BANCROFT 

LIBRARY 

BATTLE 

of 

PALO  ALTO 

8^  Hear  1646 


.    ^  _         freSJWJfiW       erf*       »-*. 

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/     '^X.  ^->  <&~*^   $>       *<ATi    ^.^^    *  .<       S> 


Scale    of   one   niilf 


BATTXE 

of 

RESACAoELA  PALMA 

1846. 


HISTORY   OF  THE   WAR 


BETWEEN 


MEXICO  AND  THE  UNITED  STATES, 


WITH  A  PRELIMINARY  VIEW  OP  ITS  ORIGIN; 


BY 


BRANTZ    MAYER, 


FORMERLY    SECRETARY' OF    THE    UNITED    STATES    LEGATION    IN    MEXICO, 
AND    AUTHOR    OF    "MEXICO    AS    IT    WAS    AND    AS    IT    IS." 


Ne  dites  a  la  posterite  que  ce  qui  est  digne  de  la  posteritJ.— VOLTAIRE. 


VOLUME    I. 


NEW  YORK  &  LONDON. 

WILEY    AND    PUTNAM 


MDCCCXLVIII. 


404 


Entered  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1847,  by 

BRANTZ  MAYER, 
in  the  Clerk's  office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  District  of  Maryland. 


' 


BOOK    FIRST: 

PRELIMINARY   VIEW   OF   THE   ORIGIN 
OF  THE  WAR. 


. 


HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR 


BETWEEN 


MEXICO  AND  THE  UNITED  STATES 


BOOK    I. 
CHAPTER   I. 

Introductory  views  of  Mexico — The  people  arid  government. 

THE  war  which  broke  out  between  the  United  States  of 
North  America  and  the  Mexican  Republic,  in  the  spring  of 
1846,  is  an  event  of  great  importance  in  the  history  of  the 
world.  Profound  peace  had  reigned  among  Christian  na 
tions,  since  the  downfall^ of  Napoleon;  and,  with  the  excep 
tion  of  internal  discords  in  France,  Belgium,  Poland  and 
Greece,  the  civilized  world  had  cause  to  believe  that  man 
kind  would  henceforth  resort  to  the  cabinet  rather  than  the 
field  for  the  settlement  of  international  disputes.  The  re 
cent  conflicts  between  the  French  and  the  Arabs  in  Algeria, 
and  between  the  British  and  Indian  races,  have  been  cha 
racterized  by  ferocity  and  endurance.  But,  it  will  be  recol 
lected  these  encounters  took  place  between  nations  unequal 
alike  in  religion,  morals,  law,  and  civilization.  The  tem 
per  or  character  of  Mahomedans  was  not  to  be  measured 
by  that  of  Christians  nor  had  we  just  reason  to  hope  for  a 


b  HISTORY    OP    THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

pacific  or  temporizing  spirit  in  people  whose  savage  habits 
have  ever  rendered  them  prompt  to  return  invasion  by  a 
blow,  and  make  war  the  precursor  of  negotiation.  It 
was,  thus,  reserved  for  the  Mexicans,  whose  blood  is  mixed 
with  that  of  an  Arab  ancestry,  to  exhibit  the  spectacle  of 
continual  domestic  broils,  a%d,  latterly  of  a  positive  warfare 
against  a  nation  whose  friendly  hand  was  the  first  to  summon 
them  into  the  pale  of  national  independence. 

.  The  disorganized  condition  of  our  neighbor  for  nearly 
thirty  years,  may,  partly  account  for  and  palliate  this 
fault.  With  administrations  shifting  like  the  scenes  of  a 
drama,  and  with  a  stage,  at  times  dyed  with  blood,  and  at 
others  imitating  the  mimic  passions  and  transports  of  the  real 
theatre,  it  may  be  confessed  that  much  should  be  pardoned 
by  a  forbearing  nation  whose  aggregate  intelligence  and  force 
ar.e  not  to  be  compared  with  the  fragmentary  and  impulsive 
usurpations  in  Mexico.  To  judge  faithfully  of  the  justice  or 
injustice  of  this  war,  and  to  comprehend  this  history  in  truth 
and  fairness,  we  must  not  only  narrate  in  chronological  order 
the  simple  events  that  occurred  between  the  two  nations ;  but 
the  student  of  this  epoch  must  go  back  a  step  in  order  to 
master  the  scope  and  motives  of  the  war.  He  must  study 
the  preceding  Mexican  history  and  character;  and,  it  will 
speedily  be  discovered  that  when  he  attempts  to  judge  the 
Spanish  republics  by  the  ordinary  standards  applied  to  free 
and  enlightened  governments,  he  will  signally  fail  in  arriv 
ing  at  truth.  He  must  neither  imagine  that  when  the  name 
of  Republic  was  engrafted  on  the  Mexican  system,  that 
it  accommodated  itself  at  once  to  our  ideal  standard  of 
political  power,  nor  that  the  dominant  faction  was  willing  to 
adopt  the  simple  machinery  which  operates  so  perfectly  in 
the  United  States.  There  are  many  reasons  why  this  should 
not  be  the  case.  The  Spanish  race,  although  it  has  achieved 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  7 

the  most  wonderful  results  in  discovery,  conquest,  colonial 
settlement,  diplomacy,  feats  of  arms,  and  success  of  domestic 
power,  has  proved  itself,  within  the  present  century,  to  be 
one  of  the  few  opponents  of  the  progressive  principles  of  our 
age.  A  Castilian  pride  of  remembered  greatness,  and  a  su 
perstitious  reluctance  to  cast  off  the  bondage  of  the  past, 
have  made  the  Spaniards  content  to  cling  devotedly  to  their 
ancient  edifice  without  bestowing  on  it  those  repairs  or  im 
provements  without  which  governments,  must  evidently 
crumble  and  decay.  Spain  believed  that  what  had  pro 
duced  national  power  and  greatness  in  one  age  must  ever 
continue  to  effect  the  same  results,  and,  thus,  she  was 
content  to  bear  the  evils  of  the  present  time  rather  than 
disjoint  a  fragment  of  her  ancient  temple,  lest  the  whole 
should  fall  in  indiscriminate  ruin.  The  blindness  of 
national  vanity  was  made  more  profound  by  the  universal 
glare  of  progressive  civilization  that  surrounded  this  doomed 
country,  whilst  superstitious  influences  clogged  every  avenue 
to  progress  which  might  have  saved  and  regenerated  both 
the  parent  and  her  colonies. 

It  may  be  urged  by  the  apologists  for  Spain,  that,  being 
nearly  as  deep  in  moral,  political  and  social  degradation  as 
France  was  at  the  period  of  the  revolution,  she  naturally 
contemplated  such  an  event  with  horror,  especially  when 
she  remembered  the  sensitive  and  excitable  race  that  peo 
pled  her  vallies  and  sierras,  and  the  likelihood  that  the  bloody 
dramas  of  Paris  would  be  frightfully  exaggerated  in  Madrid. 
But  I  still  believe  that  the  true  cause  will  be  found  more 
deeply  seated,  in  the  nature  of  the  people;  and  that  Spain, — 
made  up  as  she  is  of  many  nations,  incompetent  for  self- 
government,  uneducated  and  bigoted, — will  ever  be  content 
to  find  her  ideal  future  in  her  traditionary  past. 

Spain  and  the  Spaniards  have  few  more  zealous  admirers 


8  HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR    BETWEEN 

than  the  author  of  this  history.  The  nation  contains  in 
dividuals  who  in  patriotism,  love  of  liberty,  and  devotion  to 
science,  literature,  and  art,  are  unsurpassed  by  any  people 
of  the  world.  As  Americans  we  owe  a  debt  of  gratitude  to 
the  noble  discoverers  and  conquerors  of  this  continent.  In 
deeds  of  bravery,  in  chivalrous  enterprise,  and  in  intellectual 
power,  with  what  people  may  they  not  be  matched  in  their 
perfect  period.  But  their  golden  age  has  passed,  and  mani 
fold  corruptions  in  church  and  state  have  preyed  upon  the 
country  with  paralyzing  influence. 

For  a  long  time  we  received  from  England  with  the  sub 
missive  credulity  of  children,  all  her  traditionary  ignorance 
and  abuse  of  Spain,  much  of  which  was  owing  to  political 
animosity,  as  well  as  to  the  rivalry  that  grew  up  between 
that  country  and  the  rest  of  Europe  during  the  reign  of 
Philip  the  second.  But  the  study  of  her  language,  history 
and  literature,  has  unveiled  the  legendary  falsehoods  with 
which  we  were  cheated.  Whilst  a  large  portion  of  her  past 
history  should  be  admired  and  lauded,  her  present  downfall 
should  be  regarded  with  compassionate  censure  and  sympa 
thy.  We  should  endeavor,  in  writing  history,  to  make  our 
selves  men  of  the  times  and  nations  we  describe,  and  it  is  in 
this  manner  alone,  that  we  can  establish  the  spiritual  sym 
pathy  between  ourselves  and  foreign  countries,  which  will 
enable  us  to  enter  into  their  feelings  and  motives,  and  thus 
become  not  only  merciful  but  true  and  discreet  judges. 

The  two  great  impressions  made  on  this  continent  by  the 
Spaniards  were  in  Mexico  and  Peru.  Avarice  arid  ambition 
induced  the  conquest  of  the  latter,  while  that  of  Mexico  may 
also  be  attributed  to  the  same  motives,  although  the  hero 
who  added  the  Aztec  empire  to  the  Spanish  dominions, 
modified  his  victories  by  personal  qualities  which  were  infi- 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  9 

nitely  superior  to  those  of  the  conqueror  of  Peru.*  Yet,  in 
neither  of  these  great  adventures  do  we  find  any  of  the  fruits 
of  peaceful  acquisition,  or  of  those  well  regulated  advances 
in  civilization  which  always  mark  a  people  whose  conquest 
is  undertaken  under  the  immediate  direction  and  legal  re- 
strair\ts  of  government.  The  conquests  in  America  were,  in 
truth,  chiefly  individual  enterprises,  and,  of  course,  could  not 
be  conducted  in  a  spirit  of  temperance  and  justice.  The 
exploits  of  Cortez  and  Pizarro,  especially  those  of  the  latter, 
are  characterized  by  ferocity  and  barbarism  which  would 
place  them  in  the  category  with  freebooters  and  bucaneers, 
were  they  not  saved  from  it  by  the  splendor  of  their  success 
ful  results.  The  Indians  of  the  countries  they  subjected  to 
Spain,  were  utterly  vanquished;  yet,  unlike  the  hardy  and 
warlike  aborigines  of  the  north,  they  remained  on  their  na 
tive  soil,  content  to  serve  or  mingle  with  their  conquerors. — 
Wherever  the  white  man  came  at  the  north,  the  Indian  re 
treated  to  his  congenial  wilderness ; — he  could  not  inhabit 
the  same  country  or  breathe  the  same  air  with  the  intruder; — 
but,  as  the  Spaniard  advanced  at  the  south,  the  semi-civili 
zation  of  the  enervated  native,  induced  him  to  linger  near 
the  homes  of  his  ancestors,  and,  with  a  tame  heart,  to  obey 
his  conqueror  rather  than  to  resist  him  or  enjoy  the  fierce  in 
dependence  of  the  forest. 

The  territory  thus  seized  by  violence  was  held  by  fear. — 
Loyalty  can  never  be  the  tenure  of  conquerors,  and,  especi 
ally,  of  the  conquerors  of  an  inferior  race.  The  Spaniard 
and  Indian  lived  together  in  a  spirit  of  lordly  dominion  on 
the  one  hand,  and  of  crushed  dependence  on  the  other, 
whilst  the  Castilian  derived  from  the  native  nothing  but  his 
habits  of  savage  life,  and  the  Indian,  in  turn,  learned  noth 
ing  from  the  Castilian  but  his  vices. 

*  See  Prescott's  Conquest  of  Peru,  2nd  vol.  pages  199:  245. 
/& 


10  HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

A  conquest  thus  achieved,  an  empire  founded  in  blood 
and  terror,  would  naturally  seem  to  have  a  doubtful  des 
tiny.  It  is  unquestionably  true  that  Spain  made  humane 
laws,  and  that  Charles  the  Fifth  passed  a  decree  by  which 
his  American  possessions  were  declared  to  be  integral  parts 
of  the  Spanish  kingdom.  It  is  true,  moreover,  that  he 
sought  to  abolish  the  special  grants  to  discoverers  and  con 
querors  by  which  they  were  invested  with  almost  absolute 
authority;  and,  by  mitigating  the  system  reparttmientos* 
or  of  vassalage  among  the  Indians,  to  raise  them  to  the  dig 
nity  of  Spanish  subjects.  But,  at  the  same  time,  these 
humane  laws  were  badly  administered  in  a  country  so  diffi 
cult  of  access  as  America  was  at  that  period  from  Spain ;  and 
viceroys  and  governors  acted  as  they  pleased,  with  but  little 
regard  to  the  people  or  the  country,  except  for  their  individual 
interests.  Whilst  this  system  of  maladministration  made  the 
royal  and  beneficent  laws  nugatory,  Spain  seems  to  have 
been  engaged  in  creating  a  colonial  system  which  was  cal 
culated  to  paralyze  the  energies  of  Mexico  and  Peru. 
She  taught  them  to  look  exclusively  to  mining  for  wealth, 
and  to  their  Indians  for  labor.  All  the  laws  relative  to  the 

*The  word  repartimiento  means,  division,  partition,  distribution,  or  ap 
portionment.  In  the  old  Spanish  historians  and  English  books,  such  as 
Zarate,  Garcilasso  de  la  Vega,  Fernandez,  Robertson,  it  is  uniformly  used 
to  denote  the  well  known  allotment  of  lands  and  vassal  Indians  (genuine 
adscripti  glcbce)  granted  to  the  first  conquerors  in  reward  of  their  services. 
In  some  later  writers,  this  word  is  applied  to  the  monopoly  of  sales  to  the 
Indians  exercised  by  the  vorregedores,  under  pretext  of  protecting  the  In 
dians  from  imposition,  by  the  official  distribution  of  goods.  N.  A.  Review, 
vol.  xx.  p.  287. 

"Indeed  the  Spanish  court  made  no  scruple  of  regarding  the  Indians  in 
the  same  light  as  the  beasts  and  the  soil,  disposing  of  them  as  the  rightful 
property  of  the  crown ;  for  it  was  not  till  1537,  nearly  fifty  years  after  the 
discovery,  that  the  Pope 'issued  a  mandate  declaring  them  to  be  really  and 
truly  men, — "ipsosveros  homines," — and  capable  of  receiving  the  Chris 
tian  faith."  N.  A.  Review,  vol.  xix.  p.  198. 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  11 

natural  development  of  a  new  country  were  disregarded, 
and  civilized  existence  in  America  began  on  artificial  prin 
ciples.  The  example  of  the  last  fifty  years  has  proved  that 
America  is  capable  of  producing  all  the  necessaries,  and  most 
of  the  luxuries  of  life  quite  as  abundantly  as  Europe.  Yet, 
Spain  denied  her  colonies  the  privilege  of  an  effort.  For  in 
stance, — she  resolved  at  the  outset  not  to  allow  them  to  be 
independent  in  agriculture,  commerce  or  manufactures. 
She  would  not  permit  them  to  cultivate  the  soil  save  for 
the  merest  daily  necessaries.  Wine  and  oil  were  to  be  made 
in  the  old  world.  Cotton  and  wool  were  not  to  be  woven 
into  the  beautiful  fabrics  for  which  the  ancient  Peruvians 
were  so  celebrated.  The  church  aided  the  strong  arm  of 
government  by  the  weight  of  her  exactions  and  the  power  of 
superstitious  control.  The  Inquisition  put  its  veto  on  the 
spread  of  knowledge  by  restraining  the  sale  and  publica 
tion  of  books.  Foreigners  were  not  allowed  to  navigate 
Spanish  seas  or  enter  American  harbors.  And  these  distant 
shores  were  only  visited  at  stated  seasons  by  national  ves 
sels,  carrying  such  produce  at  exorbitant  prices,  as  Spain 
might  think  proper  to  despatch  from  Seville  or  Cadiz.* 

I  have  thought  it  proper  to  state  in  my  introductory  chap 
ter,  thus  much  of  the  laws  and  system  under  which  Mexico 
began  her  national  existence ; — for  laws  modify  the  charac 
ter  whenever  they  are  not  self-imposed.  Let  us  now,  for  a 
moment  consider  the  population  which  was  subjected  to  the 
bad  administration  of  such  laws;  and  we  shall  then  under 
stand  better  the  character  of  the  belligerents. 

The  blood  of  the  Spaniards,  even  at  home,  is  a  mixed 

*The  American  trade  was  confined  to  Seville  until  1720,  when  it  was 
removed  to  Cadiz,  as  a  more  convenient  port.  On  the  subject  of  these 
oppressions  and  misgovernment,  see  Zavala's  "  Revoluciones  de  Mexico," 
Introduction ;— and  North  American  Review,  vol.  xx.  p.  158. 


12 


HISTORY    OP   THE    WAR   BETWEEN 


blood.  But  when  we  remember  the  various  races  that  have 
overrun,  resided  in,  ruled,  and  incorporated  themselves  with 
Spain,  we  cannot  be  surprised  at  detecting  so  many  and 
diverse  characteristics  in  Mexico.  The  Celti-gallic,  Celt- 
Iberian,  Carthagenian,  Roman,  Vandalic,  Visigothic,  and 
Moorish  blood  have  mingled  again  in  Mexico  and  Peru  with 
the  Indian,  and  in  some  cases  have  been  dashed  even  with 
the  Negro.*  Mexicans  are  thus,  as  I  have  observed  else- 

*  The  subjoined  list  shows  the  varieties  of  parentage  and  blood  form 
ing  the  castes  throughout  Spanish  America : 

PARENTS. 

f  European    whites   are   called   gachupines  or 
f  WHITE  •  •  •  <  [chapetones. 

1.  ORIGINAL  RACES <  NEGRO.       (  Whites,  born  in  the  colonies,  are  called  Creoles. 

f  INDIAN. 

PARENTS.  CHILDRE^. 

White  father  and  Negro  mother.  .Mulatto. 
White      "      "    Indian      "     ..Mestizo. 
White      "      "    Mulatta    "     ..Quarteron. 
White      "      "    Meztiza   "     ..  Creole,  (only  distinguisha 
ble  from  the  white 
by  a  pale  brown 
complexion.) 
. .  Chino-blanco. 
. .  CJuintero. 
..White. 


2.  CASTES  OF  WHITE  RACE. 


White 
White 
White 


[Negro 

]  Negro 

3.  CASTES  OP  NEGRO  RACE.-!  Negro 


«  China       " 

"  Quarterona 

"  Quintera  " 

Negro  father  and  Mulatta  mother.  Zambo-negro. 

"  Meztiza    "     ..Mulatto-oscuro. 

"  China 

«  Zamba 


Negro 


..Zambo-chino. 

.  .Zambo  &  Negro  (perfectly 
black.) 

Quarterona)    .dark  Mulatto. 
orQumtera  ) 


4.  CASTES  OF  INDIAN  RACE. 


Indian  father  and  Negro  mother.  .Chino. 


Indian 
Indian 

Indian 
Indian 
Indian 

Indian 


Mulatta  " 
Mestiza  " 

China  " 
Zamba  " 
China-chola 


.  .  Chino-oscuro. 
..Mestizo-claro  (often  very 
beautiful.) 
.Chino-cholo. 
.  .  Zambo-claro. 
..Indian  (with  short-frizzly 
hair.) 


•  f  Mulatto  father  and  Zamba  mother..Zambo  (a  miserable  race.) 

5.  MULATTO   CORRUPTIONS.]  Mulatto    "      «    Zamba     "     ..Chino  (rather  clear  race.) 
(Mulatto    "      "    China       "     ..Chino  (rather  dark.) 

Besides  these  specified  castes  there  are  many  others  not  distinguished  by 
particular  names.    The  best  criterion  for  judging  is  the  hair  of  the  women 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  13 

where,  grafts  rather  of  the  wild  Arab  on  the  American  In 
dian,  than  of  the  Spanish  Don  on  the  noble  Aztec.* 

When  Mexico  was  completely  conquered  and  emigration 
began  to  fill  np  the  land,  the  soil  was  divided,  in  large  estates, 
among  the  adventurers  and  the  Indians,  by  a  system  of  re- 
partiamentos,  were  apportioned  to  the  land  holders,  f  This 
created  an  absolute  vassalage,  and  bound  the  Indian,  virtu 
ally  and  forever,  to  the  spot  where  he  was  born.  As  it 
became  wearisome  to  the  planters  to  dwell  in  the  seclu 
sion  of  these  vast  and  lonely  estates,  they  left  them  and 
their  Indians  to  the  care  of  an  administrador^  and  retreated 
to  the  chief  cities  of  the  provinces  or  to  the  capital.  Thus 
all  the  intelligence  and  cultivation  of  Mexico  became  com 
pacted  in  the  towns,  whilst  the  original  ignorance  and  semi- 
civilizaiion  remained  diffused  over  the  country.  It  is,  there 
fore,  not  at  all  surprising  to  find  that  out  of  a  popula 
tion  of  seven  millions,  four  millions  are  Indians  and  only 
one  million  purely  white,  while  more  than  two  millions, 
of  the  rest,  are  zambos,  mestizos  and  mulattos.  Nor  is  it 
singular  that  of  this  whole  population  of  seven  millions,  not 
more  than  six  hundred  thousand  whites  and  eighty  thousand 
of  other  castes,  can  read  and  write.'J 

Indeed  it  may  be  said  with  truth, — as  agriculture  has  re 
ceived  but  little  attention  beyond  the  ordinary  wants  of  life, 

which  is  infinitely  less  deceiving  than  the  complexion.  The  short  -woolly 
hair,  or  the  coarse  Indian  locks  may  always  be  detected  on  the  head  or 
back  of  the  neck.  This  tabular  statement  exhibits  at  a  glance  the  mon 
grel  corruptions  of  the  human  race  in  Spanish  America,  and  forms  an 
interesting  subject  for  students  of  physiology.  See  Tschudi's  Peru,  p.  80, 
Am.  Ed. 

*  Preface  to  3d  Ed.  of  Mexico  as  it  was  and  as  it  is,  p.  12. 
t  Zavala's  "  Revoluciones  de  Mexico,"  vol.  1.  p.  15,  gives  an  account  of 
the  manner  in  which  estates  are  divided  in  Mexico. 
t  See  Mexico  as  it  was  and  as  it  is,  p.  301. 


14  HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

and  as  the  great  proprietors  of  estates  have  chiefly  devoted 
their  attention  to  the  raising  of  cattle, — that  the  ancient 
nomadic  habits  of  the  Indian  and  half-breed,  have  re 
mained  unchanged,  and,  consequently,  that  the  great  body 
of  this  semi-civilized  people  is  quite  as  much  at  home  on 
horseback  with  sword  and  lance  as  in  the  corral  or  haci 
enda.* 

The  RANCHERO,  who  has  played  so  conspicuous  a  part  in 
this  war,  is  the  natural  offspring  of  such  a  state  of  society. 
This  class  of  men  is  composed  of  individuals,  half  Spanish 
half  Indian,  who  resemble  the  gauchos  of  the  South  Ameri 
can  Pampas.  Gaunt,  shrivelled  and  bronzed  by  exposure, 
though  hardy  and  muscular  from  athletic  exercise,  they  are, 
indeed,  the  Arabs  of  our  continent.  Living  half  the  time  in 
their  saddles,  for  they  are  matchless  horsemen,  they  traverse 
the  plains  and  mountains,  with  lassof  in  hand,  either  search 
ing  for,  or  tending  their  herds.  The  slaughter  of  beasts  and 
preparation  and  sale  of  hides  is  their  chief  means  of  liveli 
hood,  varied  occasionally  by  the  cultivation  of  a  small  patch 
of  ground,  or  by  taking  part  in  the  civil  wars  that  are  al- 
.ways  waging.  Their  costume  generally  consists  of  a  pair  of 
tough  leggings  of  skin  and  leathern  trousers,  over  which  is  a 
serape  or  blanket,  with  a  hole  in  the  centre  large  enough  for 
the  head  to  pass  through, whence  it  falls  in  graceful  folds  over 
the  chest  and  shoulders,  leaving  room  for  the  play  of  hands 
and  arms.  Add  to  this  a  broad  sombrero,  and  the  lasso,  hang 
ing  ready  for  use  at  his  saddle  bow,  and  the  reader  will  have 

*  Corral  signifies  cattle  yard ;  hacienda,  plantation ;  rancho,  small  farm. 

f  The  lasso  is  a  long  rope,  with  a  running  noose  at  the  end  of  it.  The 
Mexicans  learn  to  fling  this  with  great  accuracy  so  as  to  catch  a  bull,  a 
horse,  or  a  man  with  equal  facility.  All  classes  have  some  skill  in  the  use 
of  this  weapon,  and  I  have  seen  children,  with  cords,  attempting  to  lasso 
chickens  and  even  butterflies ! 


MEXICO    AND   THE    UNITED    STATES.  15 

a  picture  of  the  ranchero  as  he  appears  in  peace  or  in  the 
ordinary  pursuit  of  his  occupation.  Join  to  this  garb  a  long 
sabre,  a  horse  as  savage  and  untamed  as  himself,  and  a  belt 
plentifully  studded  with  pistols  and  machetes,  and  the  ran 
chero  presents  himself  ready  either  to  join  a  troop  of  banditti, 
or  to  serve  in  a  body  of  cavalry. 

Cowardly  as  they  generally  are  in  the  open  field  when 
encountering  regular  troops,  yet,  in  ambuscade,  a  sudden 
fight,  or,  as  guerillas,  they  are  both  a  formidable  and  cruel 
foe.  Their  power  of  endurance  is  inexhaustible.  Fatigue 
is  almost  unknown  to  them,  and  a  scanty  meal,  each  day,  of 
jerked  beef  and  corn  or  plantain,  is  sufficient  to  sustain  them 
on  the  longest  marches. 

Such  are  the  rancheros,  who,  by  discipline,  might  be  ren 
dered  the  best  light  troops  in  the  world.  These  are  the  men 
who  form  the  material  of  the  Mexican  cavalry;  and  they 
bear  the  same  relation  to  the  armies  of  that  republic  that  the 
Cossacks  do  to  the  Russians; — ever  on  the  alert, — easily 
lodged, — capable  of  supporting  fatigue  or  hunger, — and  un 
tiring  in  pursuit  of  an  enemy,  when  even  the  most  trifling 
plunder  is  to  be  obtained.* 

Another  large  and  formidable  body  in  Mexico  is  that  of 
the  Indians,  amounting,  as  we  have  seen,  to  four  millions ; 
whose  knowledge  of  their  governors'  language  is  generally 
confined  to  such  phrases  as  will  enable  them  to  buy  and 
sell,  or  perform  the  ordinary  functions  of  life.  Formerly 
they  lived,  and  usually  still  live,  in  narrow  huts  built  of  mud, 
thatched  with  straw  or  palm  leaves,  and  which  have  scarcely 
the  merit  of  being  picturesque.  In  these  miserable  lairs,  they 
nestle  with  their  families,  their  domestic  animals,  and  a-  table 
or  altar  on  which  they  erect  a  cross  or  place  the  figure  of 

*  See  Head's  Rough  Notes  of  a  Journey  over  the  Pampas.  The  Mexican 
ranchero  is  somewhat  superior  to  the  gaucho  of  the  Pampas. 


16  HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

a  patron  saint.  Their  food  is  mostly  maize,  and  their 
dress  corresponds  with  this  grovelling  wretchedness.  Five 
out  of  every  hundred  may  perhaps  possess  two  suits  of 
clothes,  but  their  general  vesture  consists  of  a  large  cotton 
shirt,  a  pair  of  leatheren  trousers,  and  a  blanket.  Even  the 
Indian  women,  who  elsewhere,  like  their  sex  in  civilized 
countries,  are  always  fond  of  personal  adornment,  exhibit  no 
desire  to  appear  decent  or  to  rival  each  other  in  tasteful 
ornaments  when  they  go  abroad.  They  are  as  foul  and  ill- 
clad  on  their  festivals  at  church,  as  in  their  hovels  at  home, 
so  that  few  things  are  more  disgusting  to  a  foreigner  than  to 
mingle  in  an  Indian  crowd.*  It  is  impossible  to  imagine 
such  a  population  capable  of  becoming  landed  proprietors; 
and,  consequently,  we  find  them  contented  with  the  annual 
product  of  their  small  fields,  amounting,  perhaps,  to  thirty 
or  fifty  fanegas  of  corn.  When  they  live  on  the  large  es 
tates  of  Mexican  proprietors,  they  are,  in  reality,  vassals, 
although  free  from  the  nominal  stain  of  slavery,  f  On 
these  plantations  they  are  beaten  when  they  commit  faults, 
and,  if  then  found  incorrigible,  are  driven  beyond  their 
limits,  —  a  punishment  deemed  by  them  the  severest  that  can 
be  inflicted,  and  which  they  bear  with  as  much  difficulty  as 
our  Indians  do  their  banishment  from  the  "  hunting  grounds" 
of  their  forefathers.  When  they  have  gained  a  little  money 
by  labor,  they  hasten  to  squander  it  by  making  a  festival 
in  honor  of  their  favorite  saint,  and  thus  consume  their 
miserable  earnings  in  gluttony,  gambling,  masses,  fire  works, 
and  drunkenness.  When  it  is  not  absolutely  necessary  to 
toil  for  the  necessaries  of  life,  —  especially  in  the  tierras  cali- 
j  or  warmer  portions  of  Mexico,  —  they  pass  their  time 


*  Mexico  as  it  was  and  is,  p.  144. 

fid.  p.  201  ;  and  see  Stephens'  Travels  in  Yucatan,—  where,  he  says,  the 
maxim  is  that  "  los  Indies  no  oyen  sino  por  las  nalgas,1'—  the  Indians  only 
hear  through  their  backs. 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNFTED    STATES.  17 

in  utter  idleness  or  sleep.  Zavala  declares  that  in  many 
portions  of  the  country,  the  curates  maintain  such  entire  do 
minion  over  the  Indians,  that  they  order  them  to  be  publicly 
whipped  whenever  they  fail  to  pay  their  ovenciones,  or  tri 
butes,  at  the  regular  time,  or  commit  some  act  of  personal 
disobedience.  But  the  degradation  of  this  class  does  not 
stop  even  here,  for  the  same  author  alleges  that  he  has  fre 
quently  seen  many  Indians  and  their  wives  flogged  at  the 
village  church  door,  because  they  had  failed  to  come  to 
mass  upon  some  Sunday  or  festival,  whilst,  after  the  pun 
ishment,  these  wretches  were  obliged  to  kiss  the  hand  of  the 
executioner!* 

It  will  be  seen  from  this  sketch  and  description  that  the 
vicious  colonial  system  of  Spain  formed  only  two  great 
classes  in  America, — the  proprietor  and  the  vassal, — and  that, 
in  the  nature  of  things,  it  was  utterly  impossible  for  the  latter 
to  amalgamate  with  the  former  except  by  creating  an  inferior 
race,  whose  sympathies  were  with  the  Indian  rather  than  the 
Spaniard,  and  whose  type  is  the  nomadic  ranchero.  This 
fact  was  proved  in  the  revolution  which  broke  out  in  Spanish 
America.  The  war  cry  was  against  the  Spaniardf  and  his 

*  Zavala  Revoluciones  de  Mejico,  vol.  i,  pp.  15,  16.  "  Este  escandalo 
estaba  autorizado  por  la  costumbre  de  mi  provincia."  Zavala  was  one  of 
the  wisest  and  most  illustrious  patriots  of  Mexico.  His  History  was  pub 
lished  in  Paris  in  1831. 

f  It  will  be  recollected  that  the  outburst  of  the  Mexican  revolution  was 
not  in  favor  of  republicanism ;  but  only  against  misgovernment.  It  was  not 
against  the  form  of  rule,  but  against  the  men  who  ruled.  Even  the  plan  of 
Iguala  offered  the  crown  of  Mexico  to  Ferdinand,  as  a  separate  kingdom. 
See  Robinson's  Memoirs  of  the  Mexican  Revolution. 

"  It  is  related  that  Hidalgo,  the  celebrated  priestly  leader  of  the  revolu 
tionary  movement,  was  accustomed  to  travel  from  village  to  village  preach 
ing  a  crusade  against  the  Spaniards,  exciting  the  creolcs  and  Indians  ;  and 
one  of  his  most  effective  tricks  is  said  to  have  been  the  following.  Al 
though  he  had  thrown  off  the  cassock  for  the  military  coat,  he  wore  a  figure 
of  the  Virgin  Mary  suspended  by  a  chain  around  his  neck.  After  harangu- 

3 


18  HISTORY    OF 'THE   WAR   BETWEEN 

pure  descendants.  The  Creole*  rose  against  the  gachupinft 
and  the  ferocity  with  which  the  soldiers  of  old  Spain  carried 
on  the  war  against  the  natives  confirmed  their  hereditary 
animosity. 

The  struggle  for  domestic  power  commenced  as  soon  as  the 
independence  of  Mexico  was  achieved,  and  the  people  began 
to  establish  a  system  of  government  upon  a  republican  basis 
after  the  downfall  of  the  Emperor  Iturbide.  The  Spaniards 
had  taught  a  lesson  of  privileged  classes  which  was  never 
forgotten ;  so  that,  when  the  revolution  took  place,  THE 
PEOPLE  were  only  used  to  effect  national  emancipation  rather 
than  to  establish  general  political  liberty. 

The  nobles  or  great  proprietors,  and  the  clergy,  had,  in  the 
olden  time,  formed  the  influential  class  of  society  which  ruled 
the  land.  The  theory  of  republicanism  was  marvellously 

ing  the  mob  on  such  occasions,  he  would  suddenly  break  off,  and  looking 
down  at  his  breast,  address  himself  to  the  holy  image,  after  the  following 
fashion :  '  Mary !  Mother  of  God !  Holy  Virgin !  Patron  of  Mexico  !  be 
hold  our  country, — behold  our  wrongs, — behold  our  sufferings !  Dost  thou 
not  wish  they  should  be  changed  ?  that  we  should  be  delivered  from  our 
tyrants  ?  that  we  should  be  free  ?  that  we  should  slay  the  gachupines  /  that 
we  should  kill  the  Spaniards  ?' 

"  The  image  had  a  moveable  head  fastened  to  a  spring,  which  he  jerked 
by  a  cord  concealed  beneath  his  coat,  and,  of  course  the  Virgin  responded 
with  a  nod !  The  effect  was  surprising— and  the  air  was  filled  with  In 
dian  shouts  of  obedience  to  the  present  miracle." — Mexico  as  it  was  and  as  it 
is,  p.  230. 

*The  term  creole  is  a  corruption  of  the  Spanish  word  criollo,  which  is 
derived  from  criar,  to  create  or  foster.  The  Spaniards  apply  the  term 
criollo  not  merely  to  the  human  race,  but  to  animals  born  in  the  colonies, 
if  they  are  of  pure  European  blood. 

f  See  Robinson's  Memoirs  Mexican  Revolution,  page  15.  The  term 
gachupin  has  been  always  used  by  the  Creoles  and  Indians  as  a  word  of 
contempt  towards  the  Spaniards.  Its  origin  and  exact  signification  are  un 
known  ;  but  it  is  believed  to  be  an  Indian,  and  perhaps  Aztec,  term  of  scorn 
and  opprobrium. 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  19 

captivating  so  long  as  there  was  an  European  foe  to  subdue. 
But,  when  the  last  remnant  of  Spanish  power  disappeared, 
the  men  who  had  governed  during  the  revolution  were  loath 
to  surrender  power  and  subside  into  the  insignificance  of  mere 
citizenship.  In  such  a  country  as  Mexico,  and  in  such  a  war 
as  had  just  occurred,  this  controlling  influence  in  public  af 
fairs  was,  of  course,  to  be  chiefly  found  in  the  army ;  so  that 
when  the  nation  looked  around  for  men  to  direct  her'  at  a 
period  when  Spain  had  not  yet  recognized  her  independence 
and  might  again  assail  her,  she  naturally  turned  to  the  mili 
tary  chieftains  whose  valor  sustained  her  cause  so  bravely. 
Thus  it  was  that  in  her  first  moments  of  peace,  the  army  ob 
tained  an  important  ascendancy,  which  it  has  ever  since 
contrived  to  retain  during  all  administrations. 

It  is  not  just  to  the  Spanish  colonies  to  blame  them  for 
such  a  procedure,  especially  when  we  remember  that  even 
our  republic  is  beginning  to  manifest  a  marked  partiality  for 
military  men.  The  great  deed  rather  than  the  great  thought, 
— the  brilliant  act  rather  than  beneficent  legislation,— arrests 
and  captivates  the  multitude.  In  republics,  where  an  eager 
strife  for  wealth,  distinction  or  power,  is  constantly  going  on, 
the  notice  and  position  that  each  man  obtains  must  be  won 
either  by  intrigue  or  by  the  irresistible  power  of  talents  and 
achievements.  Ambitious  parties  sometimes  even  compro 
mise  for  the  weakest,  rather  than  yield  the  palm  to  superior 
merit  of  which  they  are  meanly  jealous.  The  great  mass 
of  the  country  has  no  time  to  pause  in  the  midst  of  its  earnest 
labor  to  meditate  wisely  on  the  political  abilities  and  moral 
claims  of  individuals.  They  cannot  weigh  them  in  the 
golden  scales  of  justice; — but,  by  a  more  rapid  and  easy  pro 
cess,  they  yield  their  suffrages  promptly  to  those  whose  mani 
festations  of  genius  or  power  are  so  resistless  as  to  compel  ad 
miration.  Thus  is  it  that  the  brave  soldier,  performing  his 


20  HISTORY    OF   THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

noble  exploit  on  the  field  of  battle,  speaks  palpably  to 
the  eye  and  ear  of  the  greedy  multitude.  His  is,  indeed, 
the  language  of  action,  and  each  new  deed  makes  national 
glory  more  distinct,  and  national  vanity  more  confident. 
But  the  more  quiet  and  unobtrusive  statesman,  with  a  field 
infinitely  less  glaring  or  attractive,  exacts  from  his  judges 
a  suspension  of  party  feeling,  an  investigation  of  motive 
and  merit,  a  calm  and  forbearing  justice,  which  the  im 
patient  masses  have  seldom  the  time  or  talent  to  bestow.  It 
is,  therefore,  by  no  means  surprising  to  find  in  history,  that 
the  sword  has  commonly  been  mightier  than  the  pen,  and 
that  military  chieftains  become  the  natural  heads  of  repub 
lics  which  are  created  by  long  and  bitter  revolutions. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  army  in  Mexico  is  not 
what  armies  are  generally  understood  to  be  in  other  countries. 
In  Europe  they  are  designed  to  restrain  the  aggressive  am 
bition  of  rival  powers,  to  act  as  military  police,  and,  by  their 
imposing  skill,  discipline  and  numbers,  to  preserve  the  balance 
of  national  power.  But  in  Mexico,  whilst  the  members  of 
an  immensely  rich  hierarchy  constitute  a  distinct  order  in 
society,  the  army  forms  another. — The  policy  of  the  existing 
military  chieftains  was  to  sustain,  foster  and  increase  their 
individual  power  and  patronage.  The  mere  domestic  po 
lice  of  the  country  could  surely  never  require,  in  time  of 
peace,  so  large  a  numerical  force  under  arms  as  that  which 
has  always  been  supported  in  it;  yet  the  military  presi 
dents,  at  once,  sought  to  establish  an  army  of  officers,  and 
by  the  enlistment  of  a  body  of  commanders,  entirely  dispro 
portionate  to  the  number  of  rank  and  file,  they  immediately 
created  a  military  order  upon  whose  support  they  could  rely 
so  long  as  they  possessed  the  means  of  patronage.  The  of 
ficers  thus  became  armed  and  paid  politicians,  whilst  the 
common  soldiers  formed  a  military  police ; — the  one  an  ele- 


MEXICO   AND   THE   UNITED    STATES.  21 

ment  of  all  political  revolutions,  the  other  a  tool  by  which 
those  revolutions  were  effected.  The  great  practical  idea  of 
government,  it  will  be  perceived,  was  derived  from  com 
pulsory  force.  The  church  wielded  the  spiritual  power, 
whilst  the  army  held  the  physical ;  and,  between  the  two, 
the  people, — composed  of  merchants,  professional  men,  far 
mers,  proprietors,  and  artisans, — were  refused  all  participa 
tion  in  authority,  or  progress  in  civil  order  which  might  have 
placed  Mexico  among  the  foremost  nations  of  the  world. 
In  this  mariner  a  central  despot  has  always  found  means  and 
instruments  to  suppress  federalism  ; — for  whilst  near  thirty 
revolutions  have  occurred  in  Mexico  since  her  independence, 
every  one  of  her  presidents  has  been  a  military  chieftain.* 

Macaulay,  in  his  essay  on  the  life  of  Lord  Bacon  describes 
the  condition  of  England  when  she  was  governed  by  war 
riors  whose  rude  courage  was  neither  guided  by  science  nor 
softened  by  humanity,  and  by  priests  whose  learning  and 
abilities  were  habitually  devoted  to  the  defence  of  power. 
The  description  of  that  age  in  England  is  by  no  means  in 
applicable  to  Mexico  in  the  nineteenth  century.  "  On  the 
one  side,"  says  he,  "  the  Hotspurs,  the  Nevilles,  the  Clif 
fords,  rough  illiterate  and  unreflecting,  brought  to  the  coun 
cil-board  the  fierce  and  impetuous  despotism  which  they  had 
acquired  amid  the  tumult  of  predatory  war  or  in  the  gloomy 
repose  of  the  garrisoned  and  moated  castle.  On  the  other 
side  was  the  calm  and  placid  prelate,  versed  in  all  that  was 
considered  as  learning;  trained  in  the  schools  to  manage 
words,  and,  in  the  Confessional,  to  manage  hearts  ;^-seldom 
superstitious,  but  skilful  in  practising  on  the  superstitions 
of  others ;  false  as  it  was  natural  for  a  man  to  be  whose  pro- 

*  A  federal  government,  similar  to  our  own,  was  established  in  Mexico  in 
1824,  and  overthrown  in  1835,  to  yield  to  a  central  constitution.  In  the 
meanwhile,  the  centralists  were  almost  always  at  war,  openly  or  secretly, 
against  the  federalists. 


22  HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

fession  imposed  on  all  who  were  not  saints  the  necessity  of 
being  hypocrites; — selfish  as  it  was  natural  that  a  man 
should  be  who  could  form  no  domestic  ties  and  cherish  no 
hope  of  legitimate  posterity; — more  attached  to  his  order 
than  to  his  country,  and  guiding  the  politics  of  England  with 
a  constant  side  glance  to  Rome."  * 

And  so  it  was  in  Mexico.  The  sojourner  in  her  capital  is 
continually  warned  of  this  double  dominion  over  the  soul 
and  body  of  the  people.  The  drum  and  the  bell  resound 
in  his  ears  from  morning  to  night  fall.  Priests  and  soldiers 
throng  the  streets;  and,  whilst  the  former  enjoy  the  comfort 
able  revenues  which  are  derived  from  the  one  hundred  mil 
lions  of  property  owned  by  the  church,  the  latter  live  upon 
the  labor  of  the  people,  whom  they  are  paid  to  control  and 
transfer  from  one  military  despot  to  another. 

The  Mexican  revolution, — like  the  revolutions  of  Eng 
land,  but  unlike  that  of  France, — was  political  rather  than 
social.  The  great  foundations  of  society  were  therefore  un 
disturbed,  and  the  priest  and  soldier  took  the  ranks  of  the 
ancient  privileged  classes,  whilst  the  mixed  people  and  the 
native  Indians  remained  what  they  had  ever  been — the  sub 
jects  of  government. 

Of  all  the  officers  who  have  commanded  the  army  and 
enjoyed  the  presidency,  Santa  Anna  has  occupied  the  most 
distinguished  position  since  the  death  of  Iturbide,  and  it  is 
with  him  and  the  nation  thus  described,  that  we  shall 
deal  in  the  following  pages. 

*  Macaulay's  Essays,  vol.  2d,  p.  356,  Bost.  Ed. 


CHAPTER  II. 

Origin  of  the  war  considered — True  objects  of  contemporaneous  history- 
Motives  for  war — No  single  act  caused  it — Difference  between  war  and 
hostilities — Mexican  revolution — Federalism  and  Centralism — Operation 
of  the  Constitution  of  1824 — History  of  our  commercial  and  diplomatic 
relations — Bad  conduct  of  Mexico  in  regard  to  our  claims,  compared  with 
that  of  other  nations — Commission — Award  of  umpire — Subsequent 
course  of  Mexico — History  of  the  seizure  and  surrender  of  Monterey, 
on  the  Pacific,  by  Commodore  Jones  in  1842 — Secretary  Upshur's  cen 
sure  of  his  conduct — 111  feeling  in  Mexico  towards  the  United  States  in 
consequence  of  this  seizure. 

AN  artist  in  portraying  a  face  or  delineating  a  landscape, 
does  not  imprint  upon  his  canvass,  each  line  and  wrinkle, 
each  blade  of  grass  or  mossy  stone,  yet  a  spectator  recog 
nizes  in  the  complete  painting,  those  broad  characteristics 
of  truth  which  establish  a  limner's  fidelity.  So  it  is  with 
the  historian.  Whilst  seeking  for  accuracy  in  all  his  details, 
he  aims,  chiefly,  at  exactness  in  his  ruling  principles  and 
general  effect,  but  he  leaves  the  minute  inelegances  and 
tasteless  incidents  to  those  whose  critical  fervor  delights  in 
detecting  them. 

It  is  not  alone  in  the  detail  of  facts  that  the  historian  is 
liable  to  incur  censure,  especially  when  he  writes  a  contem 
poraneous  narrative.  It  is  almost  impossible  to  suppose  that 
he  will  divest  himself  so  completely  of  party  feeling,  as  to 
compose  an  unprejudiced  work.  Some  critics  have  even 
declared  that  a  historian  should  possess  neither  religion  nor 


24  HISTORY    OF   THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

country,  and  would  thus  force  us  to  believe  it  utterly  im 
possible  to  be  impartial  unless  an  author  were  an  infidel  or 
a  cosmopolite. 

The  age  is  so  characterized  by  political  rancor  and  so  lit 
tle  by  true  statesmanship,  that  it  is  not  surprising  to  hear 
such  opinions  even  from  experienced  and  patient  scholars. 
Yet  I  have  always  thought  that  a  writer  who  undertakes 
the  task  of  delineating  national  annals  in  no  sectarian 
spirit  but  with  broad  and  Christian  tolerance, — honestly 
seeking  to  do  justice  in  politics  and  religion  to  all, — may  so 
far  separate  himself  from  the  strifes  of  the  day  as  to  pro 
nounce  opinions  as  honest,  though  perhaps  not  as  learned, 
as  those  that  issue  from  the  bench. 

There  is,  too,  a  great  advantage  which  should  not  escape 
our  notice  in  recording  contemporaneous  history  and  fixing 
permanently  the  facts  of  the  time  as  they  occur.  He  who 
describes  events  or  periods  long  since  past,  is  forced  to  throw 
himself  back,  if  possible,  into  the  scenes  of  which  he  writes, 
whilst  he  remains  free  from  sympathy  with  their  factions 
and  parties.  But  if  a  writer  of  the  present  day  will  place 
himself  on  the  impartial  ground  of  religious  and  political  free 
dom,  and  make  himself  what  Madame  de  Stael  has  so  feli- 
tously  styled  "  contemporaneous  posterity,"  I  think  he  will 
be  better  able  than  those  who  come  after  us  to  narrate 
with  vivid  freshness  the  story  of  this  sanguinary  war. 

The  impression  of  public  feeling  both  in  Mexico  and  the 
United  States  is  still  distinct  in  our  recollection ;  the  political 
motives  influencing  or  controlling  both  the  great  parties  in 
our  country,  have  not  yet  ceased  to  operate ;  and  the  errors 
that  may  innocently  creep  into  a  narrative  may  be  cor 
rected  by  intelligent  men  who  took  part  in  the  war  as  sol 
diers  or  civilians.  A  history  thus  dispassionately  written, 
must,  it  seems  to  me,  have  the  truth  and  value  of  a  portrait 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  25 

taken  from  life,  rather  than  of  a  sketch  made  from  memory 
whose  coloring  lacks  all  the  freshness  of  vitality. 

The  very  threshold  of  this  history  is  embarrassed  by  the 
party  controversies  to  which  I  have  alluded.  The  origin  of 
the  war  was  attributed  by  the  president  and  his  adherents 
to  the  wrong  doings  of  Mexico,  whilst  the  opponents  of  the 
executive  did  not  hesitate  to  charge  its  unnecessary  incep 
tion  and  all  its  errors  directly  on  the  cabinet.  Documents, 
messages,  speeches,  essays,  and  reviews,  were  published  to 
sustain  both  sides  of  the  question,  and  the  whole  subject  was 
argued  with  so  much  ability  and  bitterness,  so  much  zeal 
and  apparent  sincerity,  that  an  impartial  mind  experiences 
extraordinary  difficulty  in  detecting  the  actual  offender. 
That  grievances  existed  in  the  conduct  of  Mexico  against 
us  during  a  long  series  of  years  cannot  be  denied;  but, 
it  is  equally  true,  that,  between  governments  well  adminis 
tered  and  entirely  reasonable  on  both  sides,  none  of  those 
provocations  justified  war.  Yet,  when  offended  power 
on  one  side,  and  passion  on  the  other,  become  engaged  in 
discussion,  it  requires  but  little  to  fan  the  smallest  spark  into 
a  flame,  and  thus  to  kindle  a  conflagration,  which  the  stout 
est  arms  may  fail  to  suppress.  It  frequently  occurs  in  the 
affairs  of  ordinary  life,  that  neighbors  are  the  bitterest  ene 
mies.  Men  often  dislike  each  other  at  their  first  interview, 
especially  if  they  belong  to  families  in  which  mutual  preju 
dices  have  existed.  They  find  it  impossible  to  assign  rea 
sons  for  their  aversion ;  nevertheless  it  exists  in  all  its  mar 
vellous  virulence.  A  slight  disagreement  as  to  limits  between 
neighboring  landholders,  a  paltry  quarrel  among  servants, 
the  malicious  representation  of  innocent  remarks,  a  thousand 
vain  and  trifling  incidents,  may  effectually  create  a  degree 
of  ill  feeling  and  cause  them  never  to  meet  without  scornful 


26  HISTORY   OF    THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

looks  and  quickened  pulses.  At  length,  this  offensive  tem 
per  is  manifested  in  personal  annoyance  or  insulting  lan 
guage,  and  blows  are  struck  in  the  first  encounter  without 
pausing  to  debate  the  justice  of  an  assault.  It  is  with  na 
tions  as  it  is  with  persons.  The  boasted  discretion  of  states 
men,  and  the  provident  temper  of  politicians  have,  in  all  ages, 
failed  to  control  the  animosity  of  mankind;  and  we  thus  find 
as  much  littleness  in  the  conduct  of  governments  as  in  the 
petulance  of  men. 

I  have  therefore,  in  studying  this  subject  carefully,  been 
led  to  the  opinion  that  no  single  act  or  cause  can  be  truly 
said  to  have  originated  the  war  between  the  United  States 
and  Mexico ;  but  that  it  occurred  as  the  result  of  a  series  of 
events,  and  as  the  necessary  consequence  of  the  acts,  posi 
tion,  temper,  passions,  ambition  and  history  of  both  parties 
since  our  international  relations  commenced. 

The  reader  will  observe  that  I  draw  a  distinction  between 
the  war  and  hostilities.  I  shall- discuss  the  latter  question 
in  the  portion  of  this  volume  which  relates  to  events  on  the 
Rio  Grande.* 

In  the  preceding  chapter  I  have  glanced  at  the  character 
of  the  people  of  Mexico,  and  I  trust  that  the  sketch  I  gave 
will  be  continually  remembered  as  illustrating  the  people 
with  whom  we  are  dealing.  When  our  first  envoy,  Mr. 
Poinsett,  was  despatched,  he  found  Mexico  pausing  to  recover 
breath  after  her  revolution.  The  bad  government  of  Spain 
had  been  followed  by  the  turmoil  and  bloodshed  of  the  rebel 
lion,  and  that,  in  turn,  was  succeeded  by  the  anarchy  of  a 
distracted  republic.  Revolution  has  followed  revolution  so 
rapidly  since  then,  that  the  historian,  at  a  loss  to  discover 

*This  river  is  known  by  various  names  in  different  authors.  By  some  it 
is  called  Rio  Bravo,  by  others,  Rio  del  Norte,  and  by  others,  again,  Rio 
Grande.  I  shall  adhere  to  the  latter  throughout  this  work. 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  27 

their  causes,  can  scarcely  detect  their  pretexts.  For  twenty 
years  past  we  have  been  so  accustomed  to  hear  of  a  new 
military  outbreak  in  Mexico  that  the  familiarized  act  seems 
to  be  only  the  legitimate  order  of  constitutional  change.  Pas 
sion,  ambition,  turbulence,  avarice,  and  superstition,  have  so 
devoured  the  country,  that  during  the  whole  of  this  period, 
Mexico,  whilst  presenting  to  foreign  nations,  the  external  ap 
pearance  of  nationality,  has,  in  fact,  at  home,  scarcely  ever 
enjoyed  the  benefit  of  a  real  or  stable  government  that  could 
make  an  impression  upon  the  character  of  the  people  or  their 
rulers.  It  is  true  that,  at  first,  she  sought  to  adopt  our  fede 
ral  system ;  but  the  original  difference  between  the  colonial 
condition  of  things  in  the  two  countries,  made  the  operation 
of  it  almost  impossible.  The  British  provinces  of  North 
America,  with  their  ancient  and  separate  governments,  very 
naturally  united  in  a  federation  for  national  purposes, 
whilst  they  retained  their  freedom  and  laws  as  indepen 
dent  States.  But  the  viceroyalty  of  Mexico,  when  it  revolu 
tionized  its  government,  was  forced  to  reverse  our  system, — 
to  destroy  the  original  central  power,  and,  subsequently  to 
divide  the  territory  into  departments,  or  states.  Until  the 
year  1824,  nothing  of  this  kind  existed  in  Mexico.  The 
whole  country  from  the  Sabine  to  its  utmost  southern  limit, 
was  under  the  central  rule  of  a  viceroy,  with  the  same  laws, 
religion,  priests,  judges,  and  civil  as  well  as  military  au 
thorities.  The  constitution  of  1824,  for  the  first  time 
broke  up  the  consolidated  nation  into  nineteen  states,  and 
then,  by  the  same  legislative  act,  recomposed  them  in  a  fede 
rative  union.  The  constitutions  of  these  nineteen  states, 
consequently,  were  creative  of  differences  that  never  existed 
before,  and  the  unity  of  power,  will,  and  action,  which 
previously  existed  was  destroyed  forever.  This  was,  natu 
rally  the  origin  of  jealousies,  parties,  and  sectional  feeling; 


28  HISTORY    OF   THE    WAR    BETWEEN 

and  the  result  was,  that  the  revenues  of  the  country  became 
wasted  whilst  their  collection  was  impeded,  and  that  a  peo 
ple  unused  to  freedom  and  chiefly  composed  of  illiterate 
Creoles,  were  confounded  by  a  scheme  of  government  whose 
machinery  was  too  intricate.* 

The  state  and  municipal  governments  of  Mexico  were, 
consequently,  always  quite  as  incompetent  for  self-rule  as  the 
central  authority.  In  addition  to  this,  they  were  cordially 
jealous  of  the  national  powers.  This  arose  from  the  state- 
fears  of  consolidation;  and,  as  it  was  with  these  municipal 
authorities,  as  well  as  with  the  corrupt  government  officers, 
that  our  citizens  were  chiefly  brought  in  contact  in  the  ports, 
it  is  not  at  all  wonderful  to  find  them  soon  complaining  of 
oppression  and  burthening  the  records  of  our  legation  with 
their  grievances.  When  our  ministers  sought  to  obtain  re 
dress,  the  Mexican  government  was  reluctant  to  undertake 
the  investigation  of  the  subject;  and,  when  it  did  so,  con 
tinually  encountered  delay  and  equivocation  on  the  part  of 
the  local  authorities.  The  distant  peculator  was  anxious  to 
escape  the  penalty  of  his  fault  by  procrastination,  and  the 
Mexican  secretary  of  state,  ever  willing  to  uphold  his  national 
pride  by  concealing  or  not  confessing  the  villainy  of  his  su 
bordinate,  was  ready  to  sustain  him  by  an  interminable  cor 
respondence. 

The  history  of  the  diplomatic  and  commercial  relations 
between  the  United  States  and  Mexico,  as  exhibited  by  con 
gress  in  all  the  published  volumes  of  national  documents, 
presents  a  series  of  wrongs,  which  the  reader  will  find  ably 
recapitulated  in  a  report  f  made  by  Mr.  Gushing  in  the  year 
1842.  Our  claims,  arising  from  injuries  inflicted  by  Mexico, 

*See  the  Natchez  Daily  Courier  of  18th  January,  1843,  for  an  excellent 
article  on  Mexico,  signed  EGO  ET  ALTER. 
t Report  No.  1096  to  the  H.  of  R.,  27th  congress,  2d  session. 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  29 

were  no  ordinary  demands  founded  on  mere  querulousn£ss, 
or  contrived  with  a  view  to  obtain  money  fraudulently  from 
that  republic.  They  were  brought  to  the  notice  of  the  min 
istry  of  foreign  affairs  by  all  our  envoys,  and  their  justice 
urged  with  ample  proof;  until,  at  length,  upon  the  return  of 
Mr.  Powhatan  Ellis  to  the  United  States,  in  the  year  1837, 
after  demanding  his  passports,  they  became  the  subject  of  a 
message  from  President  Jackson  in  which  he  alleges  that  ail 
his  efforts  of  pacific  negotiation  had  been  fruitless  and  that 
he  found  it  both  just  and  prudent  to  recommend  reprisals 
against  Mexico.  This  serious  aspect  of  our  difficulties  im 
mediately  commended  the  subject  to  the  notice  of  commit 
tees  in  both  houses  of  congress,  and  whilst  they  sustained 
the  president's  opinion  of  the  character  of  our  wrongs,  they 
recommended  that  a  forbearing  spirit  should  still  charac 
terize  our  conduct,  so  that,  "  after  a  further  demand,  should 
prompt  justice  be  refused  by  the  Mexican  government, 
we  might  appeal  to  all  nations  not  only  for  the  equity 
and  moderation  with  which  we  had  acted  towards  a  sister 
republic  but  for  the  necessity  which  will  then  compel  us 
to  seek  redress  for  our  wrongs  either  by  actual  war  or  re 
prisals."* 

"  Shortly  after  these  proceedings" — says  President  Polk — 
"  a  special  messenger  was  despatched  to  Mexico,  to  make  a 
final  demand  for  redress;  and  on  the  20th  of  July,  1837,  the 
demand  was  made.  The  reply  of  the  Mexican  government 
bears  date  on  the  29th  of  the  same  month,  and  contains  as 
surances  of  the  anxious  wish  of  the  Mexican  government 
'  not  to  delay  the  moment  of  that  final  and  equitable  adjust 
ment  which  is  to  terminate  the  existing  difficulties  between 
the  two  governments;'  tliat  nothing  'should  be  left  undone 
which  may  contribute  to  the  speediest  and  most  equitable  ter- 
*See  senate  documents  of  that  session. 


30  HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR    BETWEEN 

mfhation  of  the  subjects  which  have  so  seriously  engaged  the 
attention  of  the  United  States,'  that  the  <  Mexican  govern 
ment  would  adopt,  as  the  only  guides  for  its  conduct,  the 
plainest  principles  of  public  right,  the  sacred  obligations  im 
posed  by  international  law,  and  the  religious  faith  of  treaties,' 
and  that l  whatever  reason  and  justice  may  dictate  respecting 
each  case  will  be  done.'  The  assurance  was  further  given 
that  the  decision  of  the  Mexican  government  upon  each  cause 
of  complaint,  for  which  redress  had  been  demanded,  should 
be  communicated  to  the  government  of  the  United  States  by 
the  Mexican  minister  at  Washington. 

"These  solemn  assurances,  in  answer  to  our  demand 
for  redress,  were  disregarded.  By  making  them,  however, 
Mexico  obtained  further  delay.  President  Van  Buren,  in 
his  annual  message  to  congress  of  the  5th  of  December, 
1837,  states  that  'although  the  larger  number'  of  our  de 
mands  for  redress,  and  l  many  of  them  aggravated  cases  of 
personal  wrongs,  have  been  now  for  years  before  the  Mexican 
government,  and  although  the  causes  of  national  complaint, 
and  those  of  the  most  offensive  character,  admitted  of  imme 
diate,  simple,  and  satisfactory  replies,  it  is  only  within  a  few 
days  past  that  any  specific  communication  in  answer  to  our 
last  demand,  made  five  months  ago,  has  been  received  from 
the  Mexican  minister;'  and  that  cfor  not  one  of  our  public 
complaints  has  satisfaction  been  given  or  offered ;  that  but 
one  of  the  cases  of  personal  wrong  has  been  favorably  con 
sidered,  and  but  four  cases  of  both  descriptions,  out  of 
all  those  formally  presented,  and  earnestly  pressed,  have  as 
yet  been  decided  upon  by  the  Mexican  government.'  Pre 
sident  Van  Buren,  believing  that  it  would  be  vain  to  make 
any  further  attempt  to  obtain  redress  by  the  ordinary  means 
within  the  power  of  the  executive,  communicated  this  opinion 
to  congress,  in  the  message  referred  to,  in  which  he  said  that 


MEXICO   AND   THE    UNITED    STATES.  31 

'  on  a  careful  and  deliberate  examination  of  the  contents,'  of 
the  correspondence  with  the  Mexican  government, c  and  con 
sidering  the  spirit  manifested  by  the  Mexican  government,  it 
became  his  painful  duty  to  return  the  subject,  as  it  now 
stands,  to  congress,  to  whom  it  belongs,  to  decide  upon  the 
time,  the  mode,  and  the  measure  of  redress.' 

"  Instead  of  taking  redress  irito  our  own  hands,  a  new  ne 
gotiation  was  entered  upon  with  fair  promises  on  the  part  of 
Mexico.  This  negotiation,  after  more  than  a  year's  delay, 
resulted  in  the  convention  of  the  llth  of  April,  1839,  'for  the 
adjustment  of  claims  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  of 
America  upon  the  government  of  the  Mexican  republic.' 
The  joint  board  of  commissioners  created  by  this  convention 
to  examine  and  decide  upon  these  claims  was  not  organized 
until  the  month  of  August,  1840,  and  under  the  terms  of  the 
convention  they  were  to  terminate  their  duties  within  eigh 
teen  months  from  that  time.  Four  of  the  eighteen  months 
were  consumed  in  preliminary  discussions  on  frivolous  and 
dilatory  points  raised  by  the  Mexican  commissioners;  nor 
was  it  until  the  month  of  December,  1840,  that  they  com 
menced  the  examination  of  the  claims  of  our  citizens  upon 
Mexico.  Fourteen  months  only  remained  to  examine  and 
decide  upon  these  numerous  and  complicated  cases.  In  the 
month  of  February,  1842,  the  term  of  the  commission  ex 
pired,  leaving  many  claims  undisposed  of  for  want  of  time. 
The  claims  which  were  allowed  by  the  board  and  by  the 
umpire,  authorized  by  the  convention  to  decide  in  case  of 
disagreement  between  the  Mexican  and  American  commis 
sioners,  amounted  to  two  millions  twenty-six  thousand  one 
hundred  and  thirty-nine  dollars  and  sixty-eight  cents. 
There  were  pending  before  the  umpire  when  the  commis 
sion  expired  additional  claims  which  had  been  examined 
and  awarded  by  the  American  commissioners,  and  had  not 


32  HISTORY    OP   THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

been  allowed  by  the  Mexican  commissioners,  amounting  to 
nine  hundred  and  twenty-eight  thousand  and  twenty-seven 
dollars  and  eighty-eight  cents,  upon  which  he  did  not  de 
cide,  alleging  that  his  authority  ceased  with  the  termination 
of  the  joint  commission.  Besides  these  claims,  there  were 
others  of  American  citizens  amounting  to  three  millions  three 
hundred  and  thirty-six  thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirty- 
seven  dollars  and  five  cents,  which  had  been  submitted  to 
the  board,  and  upon  which  they  had  not  time  to  decide  be 
fore  their  final  adjournment. 

"  The  sum  of  two  millions  twenty-six  thousand  one  hun 
dred  and  thirty-nine  dollars  and  sixty-eight  cents  which  had 
been  awarded  to  the  claimants,  was  an  ascertained  debt  by 
Mexico,  about  which  there  could  be  no  dispute,  and  which 
she  was  bound  to  pay  according  to  the  terms  of  the  conven 
tion.  Soon  after  the  final  awards  for  this  amount  had  been 
made,  the  Mexican  government  asked  for  a  postponement  of 
the  time  of  making  payment,  alleging  that  it  would  be  in 
convenient  to  pay  at  the  time  stipulated.  In  the  spirit  of  for 
bearing  kindness  towards  a  sister  republic,  which  Mexico  has 
so  long  abused,  the  United  States  promptly  complied  with 
her  request.  A  second  convention  was  accordingly  con 
cluded  between  the  two  governments  on  the  thirtieth  of  Jan 
uary,  1843,  .which  upon  its  face  declares,  that,  i  this  new 
arrangement  is  entered  into  for  the  accommodation  of  Mexi 
co.'  By  the  terms  of  this  convention,  all  the  interest  due 
on  the  awards  which  had  been  made  in  favor  of  the  claim 
ants  under  the  convention  of  the  llth  of  April,  1839,  was 
to  be  paid  to  them  on  the  30th  of  April,  1843,  and  "the 
principal  of  the  said  awards,  and  the  interest  accruing  there 
on,"  was  stipulated  to  "  be  paid  in  five  years,  in  equal  instal 
ments  every  three  months."  Notwithstanding  this  new  con 
vention  was  entered  into  at  the  request  of  Mexico,  and  for 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  33 

the  purpose  of  relieving  her  from  embarrassment,  the  claim 
ants  only  received  the  interest  due  on  the  30th  of  April, 
]  843,  and  three  of  the  twenty  instalments.  Although  the 
payments  of  the  sum  thus  liquidated,  and  confessedly  due 
by  Mexico  to  our  citizens  as  indemnity  for  acknowledged 
acts  of  outrage  and  wrong,  was  secured  by  treaty,  the  obli 
gations  of  which  are  ever  held  sacred  by  all  just  nations,  yet 
Mexico  violated  this  solemn  engagement  by  failing  and 
refusing  to  make  the .  payment.  The  two  instalments  due 
in  April  and  July,  1844,  under  the  peculiar  circumstances 
connected  with  them,  were  assumed  by  the  United  States 
and  paid  to  the  claimants.  But  this  is  not  all  of  which 
we  have  just  cause  of  complaint.  To  provide  a  remedy  for 
the  claimants  whose  cases  were  not  decided  by  the  joint 
commission  under  the  convention  of  April  the  llth,  1839,  it 
was  expressly  stipulated  by  the  sixth  article  of  the  conven 
tion  of  the  30th  of  January,  1843,  that  '  a  new  convention 
shall  be  entered  into  for  the  settlement  of  all  claims  of  the 
government  and  citizens  of  the  United  States  against  the  re 
public  of  Mexico  which  were  not  finally  decided  by  the  late 
commission  which  met  in  the  city  of  Washington,  and  all 
claims  of  the  government  and  citizens  of  Mexico  against  the 
United  States.' 

"  In  conformity  with  this  stipulation,  a  third  convention 
was  concluded  and  signed  at  the  city  of  Mexico  on  the  20th 
of  November,  1843,  by  the  plenipotentiaries  of  the  two  go 
vernments,  by  which  provision  was  made  for  ascertaining 
and  paying  these  claims.  In  January,  1844,  this  convention 
was  ratified  by  the  senate  of  the  United  States,  with  two 
amendments,  which  were  manifestly  reasonable  in  their 
character. 

uUpon  a  reference  of  the  amendments  proposed  to  the 
government  of  Mexico,  the  same  evasions,  difficulties,  and 
5 


34 


HISTORY    OF   THE    WAR   BETWEEN 


delays  were  interposed  which  have  so  long  marked  the  policy 
with  that  government  towards  the  United  States.  It  has  not 
even  yet  decided  whether  it  would  or  would  not  accede  to 
them,  although  the  subject  has  been  repeatedly  pressed  upon 
its  consideration. 

"  Mexico  thus  violated  a  second  time  the  faith  of  treaties, 
by  failing  or  refusing  to  carry  into  effect  the  sixth  article  of 
convention  of  January,  1843."* 

The  allegations  made  in  this  message  are  unquestionable. 
They  rest  upon  the  evidence  of  documents  which  are  acces 
sible  to  all  in  the  published  papers  of  the  government.f  The 
outrages  of  Mexico  consisted  in  seizure  of  property,  illegal 
imprisonment  of  citizens,  deprivation  of  just  rights,  interfer 
ence  with  our  lawful  commerce,  forced  loans,  violations  of 
contracts,  and  arbitrary  expulsion  from  the  territory  without 
trial.  All  these  misdeeds  formed  the  exasperating  burthen 
of  our  complaint,  and  their  perpetration  was  in  fact  proved 
beyond  the  possibility  of  cavil  by  the  awards  in  favor  of  our 
claimants  made  by  the  Baron  von  Roenne,  who,  as  Prussian 
minister,  was  umpire  between  the  Mexican  and  American 
commissioners. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  we  had  claims  also  against 
Spain,  France,  England,  Denmark  and  Naples,  which  were 
adjusted  by  negotiation  and  liquidated  in  strict  accordance 
with  treaties.  These,  demands,  however,  originated  during 
the  wars  in  Europe  which  followed  the  French  revo 
lution,  so  that  it  remained  for  Mexico  to  peculate  on  our 

*  President  Folk's  annual  message  to  congress,  8th  Dec.  1846,  p.  6. 

f  See  Doc.  No.  139,  24  cong.  2d  sess.  H.  of  R.—  Senate  Doc.  No.  320,  2d 
sess.  27  cong.  —  Doc.  No.  57,  H.  of  R.  27  cong.  1st  sess.  —  Senate  Doc.  No. 
411,  27  cong.  2d  sess.—  Doc.  No.  1096,  H.  of  R.  27  cong.  2d  sess.—  Doc. 
No.  158,  H.  of  R.  28  cong.  2d  sess.—  Doc.  No.  144,  H.  of  R.  28  cong.  2d 
sess.  —  Senate  Doc.  No.  85,  29  cong.  1st  sess.  —  Senate  Doc.  No.  151,  29 
cong.  1  sess. 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  35 

commerce  and  persecute  our  people  during  a  period  of  entire 
international  peace,  and  without  any  excuse  save  the  direct 
villainy  of  her  government,  or  the  corrupt  ignorance  of  her 
subordinate  officers. 

We  must  now  retrace  our  steps,  in  order  to  narrate  an  event 
of  interest  in  the  series  of  causes  that  originated  this  war. 

It  appears  that  the  Mexican  government,  in  anticipation  of 
some  attack  on  its  distant  territories  of  California,  had,  in  the 
summer  of  1342,  sent  a  number  of  troops  thither,  under  the 
command  of  Don  Manuel  Micheltorena,  who  was  appointed 
commandant  general  and  inspector  of  both  the  Californias. 
These  troops  arrived  at  San  Diego,  the  southernmost  port  on 
the  Pacific  side  of  California,  in  the  middle  of  October,  and 
were  on  their  way  to  Monterey,  the  capital,  when  the  occur 
rences  in  question  took  place. 

Monterey,  on  the  Pacific,  is  a  small  village  founded  by  the 
Spaniards  in  1771,  at  the  southern  extremity  of  a  bay  of  the 
same  name,  near  the  36th  degree  of  latitude,  about  a  hun 
dred  miles  south  of  the  great  bay  of  San  Francisco,  and  about 
three  hundred  and  fifty  miles  north  from  the  town  of  An 
geles,  where  the  Commandant  Micheltorena  was  resting  with 
his  troops  when  the  events  in  question  occurred. 

Whilst  Commodore  Jones  was  visiting  the  port  of  Callao, 
in  September,  1842,  he  received  from  Mr.  John  Parrott,  our 
consul  at  Mazatlan,  a  copy  of  a  Mexican  newspaper  of  the 
4th  of  June,  containing  three  official  declarations  against  the 
United  States,"  which  he  regarded  as  "highly  belligerent."* 

*This  paper  contained  the  circular  of  the  Mexican  minister  of  foreign 
relations  to  the  diplomatic  corps,  dated  31st  May,  1842, — (answered  by  Mr. 
Thompson  on  the  1st  of  June,) — relative  to  public  meetings  in  the  United 
States  favorable  to  Texas ;  the  aid  furnished  Texas  by  volunteers  from  the 
United  States ;  and  the  trade  in  arms  and  munitions  of  war  with  Texas. 
Doc.  No.  266,  H.  of  R.,  27th  congress,  2d  session. 


36  HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR    BETWEEN 

He  also  obtained  a  newspaper  published  in  Boston,  quoting 
a  paragraph  from  the  New  Orleans  Advertiser  of  the  19th 
April,  1842,  in  which  it  was  asserted, — upon  what  the  editor 
deemed  authentic  information, — that  Mexico  had  ceded  the 
Californias  to  England  for  seven  millions  of  dollars.  These 
documents  reached  our  sensitive  commodore  at  a  moment 
when  his  suspicions  were  aroused  by  other  circumstances. 
For,  on  the  5th  of  September,  Rear-Admiral  Thomas,  a  Bri 
tish  commander,  sailed  from  Callao  in  the  Dublin  having 
previously  despatched  two  of  his  fleet  with  sealed  orders  just 
received  from  England.  The  whole  fleet,  he  believed,  was 
secretly  on  its  way  to  Panama  to  embark  reinforcements  of 
troops,  from  the  West  Indies,  to  take  armed  possession  of  the 
Californias  in  conformity  with  the  allegation  of  the  Boston 
and  New  Orleans  editors.* 

Commodore  Jones  immediately  hastened  from  the  port  of 
Callao  to  Lima,  where,  in  a  conversation  with  the  American 
charge  d'affaires,  Mr.  Pickett,  he  formed  the  decided  opinion 
that  there  would  be  war  not  only  with  Mexico  but  with  Great 
Britain  also.f  Accordingly,  he  lost  no  time  in  preparing  for 
sea,  and  on  the  7th  of  September,  sailed  for  the  coast  of 
Mexico. 

On  the  19th  of  October,  Jones  arrived  at  Monterey,  in  the 
frigate  United  States,  accompanied  by  the  Cyane,  Captain 
Stribling.  They  did  not  communicate  with  the  shore  or  en 
deavor,  in  any  authentic  way,  to  ascertain  the  state  of  our 
political  relations;  but  at  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  Cap 
tain  Armstrong,  the  flag  captain  of  the  United  States,  landed, 
and  delivered  to  the  acting  governor,  Don  Juan  Alvarado,  a 
letter  from  •Commodore  Jones,  requiring  the  immediate  sur 
render  of  the  place,  with  its  forts,  castles,  ammunitions  and 
arms,  to  the  United  States,  in  order  to  save  it  from  the  hor- 

- 

*See.  doc.,  No.  166,  H.  of  R.,  27th  congress,  3d  session,  page  85. 
fid.  pages  15,  68,  73. 


MEXICO    AND   THE    UNITED    STATES.  37 

rors  of  war,  which  would  be  the  immediate  consequences  of 
a  refusal  to  submit.  Alvarado,  upon  this  summons,  consulted 
the  military  and  civil  authorities;  and,  finding  that  the  garri 
son  consisted  of  only  twenty-nine  men,  that  the  artillery  was 
composed  of  eleven  pieces,  entirely  useless  from  the  rotten 
ness  of  their  carriages,  and  that  the  whole  number  of  mus 
kets  and  carbines,  good  and  bad,  did  not  exceed  a  hundred 
and  fifty,  he  surrendered  the  place,  which  was  taken  posses 
sion  of  by  the  Americans  early  on  the  20th  of  October.  The 
articles  of  capitulation  signed  on  the  occasion  provide',  that 
the  Mexican  soldiers  shall  march  out  with  colors  flying,  and 
shall  remain  as  prisoners  of  war  until  they  can  be  sent  to 
Mexico,  and  that  the  inhabitants  shall  be  protected  in  th«ir 
persons  and  property,  so  long  as  they  conduct  themselves 
properly,  and  do  not  infringe  the  laws  of  the  United  States. 
Commodore  Jones  at  the  same  time  issued  a  proclamation  to 
the  Californians,  declaring  that  "  he  came  in  arms  as  the 
representative  of  a  powerful  nation,  against  which  the  exist 
ing  government  of  Mexico  had  engaged  in  war,  but  not  with 
the  intention  of  spreading  dismay  among  the  peaceful  inhabi 
tants,"  and  inviting  them  to  submit  to  the  authority  of  a 
government  which  would  protect  them  forever  in  the  enjoy 
ment  of  liberty. 

The  evening  and  night  of  the  20th  passed  quietly;  but, 
on  the  next  day,  the  commodore  seems  to  have  reflected  on 
the  results  of  a  bloodless  conquest  which  was  even  more 
easily  won  than  the  victories  of  Cortez  and  Pizarro  three  hun 
dred  years  before.  Learning  that  there  was  late  and  pacific 
news  from  Mexico,  and,  forthwith  despatching  his  private 
secretary  and  chaplain  to  seek  for  it,  they  discovered,  in  the 
office  of  the  Mexican  commissary,  several  packages  contain 
ing  unopened  files  of  gazettes,  as  late  as  the  4th  of  August. 
ic  The  general  tone  of  the  articles," — says  the  commodore, — 


38  HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR    BETWEEN 

"relating  to  the  United  States,  in  these  papers,  was  pacific, 
whilst  the  certainty  that  Mexico  had  not  commenced  hosti 
lities  against  us,  up  to  the  22d  of  A  ugust,  was  established  by 
private  commercial  letters  from  Mazatlan."  Thus,  it  seemed 
to  him,  that  the  crisis  had  passed ;  that  his  victory  was  barren, 
that  the  reported  cession  of  the  Californias  to  England  was 
untrue  and  could  not  have  been  prevented  even  by  his  valor. 
The  war  which  had  been  recklessly  undertaken  upon  sur 
mises  or  newspaper  articles,  and  stimulated  by  the  sailing  of 
an  English  fleet  with  sealed  orders,  came  to  an  end  as  it  be 
gan — by  Mexican  journals. 

Accordingly,  on  the  21st  of  the  month,  Commodore  Jones 
addressed  another  letter  to  the  acting  governor,  Alvarado, 
announcing  that  information  received  since  the  capture  of 
the  place,  left  him  no  reason  to  doubt  that  the  difficulties 
between  Mexico  and  the  United  States  had  been  adjusted; 
and  that,  being  anxious  to  avoid  all  cause  of  future  contro 
versy,  he  was  ready  to  restore  the  place,  with  its  forts  and 
property,  to  the  Mexicans,  in  the  same  condition  in  which 
they  were  before  the  seizure.  Monterey  was  therefore  at 
once  evacuated  by  the  Americans,  and  reoccupied  by  the 
Mexicans,  whose  flag,  on  being  rehoisted,  was  saluted  by  our 
ships. 

If  the  commodore  of  our  squadron  had  prudently  despatch 
ed  his  secretary  and  chaplain  on  a  pacific  mission  of  inquiry 
under  a  flag  of  truce,  immediately  upon  his  arrival,  it  is  ex 
tremely  probable  that  they  would  either  have  discovered  on 
the  20th  the  newspapers  they  found  on  the  21st,  or  have  re 
ceived  the  commercial  letter  which  terminated  the  capture. 
This  would  have  prevented  an  angry  diplomatic  correspon 
dence;  it  would  have  allayed  the  irritation  of  national  sensi 
bility,  and,  whilst  it  saved  us  from  the  imputation  of  attempt 
ing  to  intimidate  a  weak  power,  would  not  have  subjected 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES  39 

our  forces  to  the  mortification  of  mistake  upon  such  grievous 
subjects  as  peace  and  war.  The  Mexican  papers,  of  course, 
viewed  the  matter  as  a  national  insult;  and  the  government 
gazette,  published  in  the  capital,  unequivocally  asserted  that 
Commodore  Jones  attacked  Monterey,  agreeably  to  orders 
from  his  government,  with  the  view  of  conquering  Califor 
nia,  but  that  finding  the  country  in  a  state  of  defence,  (for 
which  thanks  were  due  to  President  Santa  Anna  and  his  effi 
cient  minister  of  war,)  he  was  obliged  to  abandon  his  plan 
and  invent  a  story  for  his  justification.* 

It  is  scarcely  possible  for  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  to 
take  a  different  view  of  the  subject  without  a  full  knowledge 
of  the  facts;  for  it  could  hardly  be  believed  that  the  com 
mander  of  a  naval  station,  during  a  period  of  profound  peace, 
would  venture  to  summon  towns  to  surrender,  to  land  forces, 
take  prisoners,  and  hoist  our  national  flag  on  friendly  soil, 
without  the  authority  or  connivance  of  his  government^ 

*  Diario  del  Gobierno — Mexico,  1842. 

f  A  correspondence  relative  to  this  seizure  of  Monterey  took  place  at 
Washington  between  Mr.  Webster,  secretary  of  state,  and  Gen.  Almonte, 
the  Mexican  minister;  and,  in  Mexico,  between  Seiior  Bocanegra,  minis 
ter  of  foreign  affairs,  and  Mr.  Waddy  Thompson,  our  diplomatic  represen 
tative.  Mexico  complained  bitterly  of  our  insulting  descent  on  her  terri 
tory,  and  our  ministers  apologized  gracefully  for  the  unauthorised  act. 
The  correspondence  between  the  governments  and  with  Commodore  Jones 
will  be  found  in  document  No.  166,  H.  of  R.,  27th  congress,  3d  session,  1843. 

The  recall  of  Commodore  Jones  by  the  secretary  of  the  navy  is  the  fol 
lowing  words : 

"NAVY  DEPARTMENT,  January  24,  1843. 

"  SIR  :  Although  no  official  intelligence  of  the  recent  occurrences  at 
Monterey  has  reached  this  department,  yet  the  leading  facts  have  been 
communicated  in  a  form  sufficiently  authentic  to  justify  and  render  neces 
sary  my  immediate  action.  In  the  opinion  of  this  government  it  is  due  to 
the  friendly  relations  subsisting  between  the  United  States  and  Mexico, 
and  to  the  respect  which  every  nation  owes  to  the  rights  of  other  nations, 


CHAPTER   III. 


The  origin  of  the  war — History  of  the  pacification  between  Spain  and  Hol 
land  in  1609— Spain  and  Mexico  should  have  followed  the  example — 
The  Texas  question — Origin  of  the  Texas  revolution — True  history  of  it 
— Resistance  to  the  Central  despotism  of  Santa  Anna— Mexican  war 
against  Texas — Independence  of  Texas — Santa  Anna's  retraction  in 
1846  of  his  anti-federative  opinions. 

THE  student  of  Mexican  history,  at  this  period,  will  derive 
instruction  from  a  narrative  of  the  connexion  which  once 
existed  between  Spain  and  the  Netherlands  and  its  fatal 
rupture. 

After  the  fall  of  the  duke  of  Burgundy  in  14T7,  his 
daughter  Mary  brought  the  low  countries  to  Austria  by  her 
marriage  with  the  Emperor  Maximilian ;  and  his  grandson, 
Charles  V,  united  these  provinces  with  Spain.  During  the 
reign  of  Charles,  their  ancient  liberties  were  carefully  re 
spected,  and  the  country  prospered  whilst  the  Protestant  re 
ligion  spread  throughout  it  in  spite  of  stern  opposition.  But 

that  you  should  be  recalled  from  the  command  of  the  squadron  in  the 
Pacific. 

"In  adopting  this  course  it  is  not  designed  to  prejudge  the  case,  nor  even 
to  indicate  any  opinion  as  to  the  propriety  or  impropriety  of  your  conduct  in  the 
matter  alluded  to.  That  will  of  course  be  made  the  subject  of  proper  in 
quiry  after  you  return  to  the  United  States,  when  full  justice  will  be  done 
as  between  yourself  and  your  own  country.  The  present  order  has  refer 
ence  only  to  the  just  claims  of  Mexico  on  this  government  for  such  a  disa 
vowal  of  the  attack  on  Monterey  as  will  fully  recognize  the  rights  of 
Mexico,  and  at  the  same  time  place  the  conduct  of  this  government  in  a 
proper  light  before  the  nations  of  the  world.  Commodore  Dallas  will  re 
lieve  you  as  so'bn  as  he  can  conveniently  reach  the  station  and  you  will 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  41 

when  his  successor,  Philip  II,  mounted  the  throne,  all  pru 
dence  in  the  government  of  the  Belgic  and  Batavian  pro 
vinces  seems  t<rhave  been  abandoned,  and  unbridled  perse 
cution  was  let  loose  on  the  drV-il  -and  religious  rights  of  the 
people.  Granvella  and  the  bloody  duke  £>f,  Alva  were  the 
monarch's  instruments  in  this  sad  misgovernment,  which  re 
sulted  in  a  total  renunciation  of  allegiance  to  the  king  of 
Spain.  Long  and  bitter  was  the  rebellion, — continuing  from 
the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century  to  the  year  1 609, — when 
the  Spanish  claim  to  the  sovereignty  of  the  new  republic  of 
Holland  was  virtually  resigned  under  the  form  of  a  truce  for 
twelve  years  between  the  belligerents.* 

The  independence  of  the  united  provinces  was  thus,  in 
fact  achieved,  and  it  was  recognized  by  all  the  great  powers 
of  Europe  except  Spain ;  still  Holland  went  through  the 
thirty  years  war,  before  her  nationality  was  secured  by  the 
peace  of  Westphalia. 

From  this  sketch  it  will  be  perceived  that  Spain,  although 
willing  to  forego  the  continuance  of  war,  and  to  save  the 
point  of  honor  between  herself  and  the  rebellious  provinces 
when  it  was  impossible  to  recover  her  dominion  over  them, 
nevertheless,  clung  with  stupid  pride  to  her  abstract  right  of 
reconquest  for  a  long  period  after  she  had  substantially  ac 
knowledged  their  freedom.  The  dismemberment  of  Spain 
was,  of  course,  an  event  which  the  monarch  could  not  be- 

return  to  the  United  States  in  such  mode  as  may  be  most  convenient  and 
agreeable  to  yourself. 

"I  am  respectfully  yours, 

"A.  P.  UPSHUR. 

"Com.  THOS.  AP.  C.  JONES,  commanding  Pacific  squadron." 
I  believe  that  the  commodore  was  not  tried  by  a  court  of  inquiry  or  a 
court  martial  after  his  return,  but  that  the  affair  has  slumbered  since  the 
date  of  the  above  letter. 

*  Arnold:s  third  lecture  on  modern  history. 

6 


42  HISTORY    OF   THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

hold  without  regret,  for  it  was  natural  that  he  should  seek  to 
transmit  his  dominions  to  posterity  uncurtailed  of  their  fair 
proportions.  Yet,  in  the  adoption  of  a  diplomatic  ruse, — in 
the  truce  of  twelve  years, — there  was  a  degree  of  wisdom 
which  it  would  have  been  well  for  Spain  to  recollect  when 
it  became  evident  that  the  revolt  of  her  American  colonies 
was  about  to  terminate  in  their  independence.  The  pas 
sions  between  the  belligerents  would  have  had  time  to  cool. 
The  common  ties  of  blood  and  language  might  gradually 
have  bound  up  the  wounds  made  by  war.  The  intervention 
of  friendly  powers  would  have  obtained  concessions  from  the 
discreet  parent, — and  thus  Peru  and  Mexico  might  still  have 
shone  as  the  brightest  jewels  in  the  Spanish  crown.  No 
quarrel  ever  terminated  in  perfect  re-establishment  of  amity 
without  tolerance  or  retraction  on  the  part  of  one  of  the  dis 
putants.  Superior  force  may  overawe  into  silence  or  crush 
by  its  ponderous  blows,  yet  the  non-resistance  and  taciturnity 
which  ensue  are  but  the  repose  that  precedes  the  hurricane, 
in  which  the  elements  seem  gathering  strength  to  pour  forth 
their  wrath  with  irresistible  fury. 

So  was  it  with  Spain  and  her  American  colonies.  Instead 
of  soothing  and  pacific  measures,  tending  to  allay  resentment 
and  bring  back  the  rebel  to  allegiance,  the  utmost  violence 
was  at  once  adopted  both  in  deeds  and  language,  and  scenes 
of  barbarity  were  enacted  by  Calleja  and  his  myrmidons 
from  which  the  heart  recoils  with  horror.* 

Severe  as  was  the  lesson  taught  by  the  conduct  of  Spain 
to  Mexico,  that  republic,  nevertheless,  resolved  not  to  profit 
by  it  when  she,  in  turn,  saw  one  of  her  States  discontented 
with  her  misrule  and  usurpations.  If  Texas  had  been 
soothed ;  if  justice  had  been  speedily  done ;  if  the  executive 
had  despatched  discreet  officers,  and  reconciled  the  differences 

*  Robinson's  Memoirs  of  the  Mexican  Revolution,  pages  20,  22.  24 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  43 

between  the  North  American  emigrants  and  the  Spaniards, 
not  only  in  civil  and  municipal  government,  but  in  religion 
and  temper, — Texas  might  not  have  been  lost  to  Mexico , — 
but,  invigorated  by  a  hardy  and  industrious  population, 
would  have  poured  commercial  wealth  into  her  coffers,  and 
furnished  her  factories  among  the  mountains  with  an  abund 
ance  of  that  staple  which  the  native  Indians  are  as  unused 
as  they  are  unwilling  to  cultivate.  Had  Mexico  been  even 
as  wise  as  Philip,  in  1609,  and  saved  her  punctilious  honor 
by  a  twelve  years  truce,  she  would  only  have  postponed  the 
settlement  of  her  difficulties,  until  her  internal  affairs  became 
sufficiently  pacific  to  enable  a  firm  government  to  act  with 
discretion  and  justice. 

Since  the  year  1843  the  Texas  question  has  been  so  much 
a  matter  of  party  dispute  in  the  United  States  that  the  true 
history  of  the  revolt  seems  to  be  almost  forgotten.  I  shall 
not  hesitate  therefore  to  recount  some  of  the  events  connected 
with  it,  because  they  are  relevant  to  the  issue  between  us  and 
Mexico,  as  well  as  necessary  to  the  elucidation  of  the  justice 
of  her  quarrel. 

It  is  an  error  that  the  Texan  rebellion  was  conceived  in  a 
spirit  of  sheer  fraud  upon  Mexico;  and  writers  who  seek  to 
stigmatize  it  thus  are  entirely  ignorant  of  its  origin. 

The  contest  that  arose  between  the  central  and  federal 
parties  in  Mexico  immediately  after  the  establishment  of  in 
dependence  has  been  narrated  in  a  preceding  chapter.  The 
first  federal  constitution  is  an  almost  literal  copy  of  our  own; 
but  its  equitable  and  progressive  principles  did  not  suit  the 
military  despots  who,  whilst  they  commanded  the  army,  held 
the  physical  power  of  Mexico  in  their  hands.  The  conse 
quence  was  that  during  the  administration  of  the  first  presi 
dent,  Victoria,  there  were  pronunciamientos  against  federa- 


44  HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

tion  and  in  favor  of  centralism,  by  Padre  Arenas,  and  at 
Tulancingo,  under  the  "plan  of  Montayno."  Quarrels 
in  the  party  lodges  of  the  Yorkinos  and  Escossceses — the 
liberalists  and  centralists — next  arose; — and,  finally,  the 
revolution  under  the  "  plan  of  Toluca,"  destroyed  the  cher 
ished  constitution  of  1824,  by  striking  a  death  blow  at  the 
federative  principle.  This  plan  vested  the  power  in  a  central 
government,  abolished  State  legislatures,  and  changed  those 
States  into  departments  under  the  control  of  military  gover 
nors,  who  were  responsible  to  the  chief  authorities  of  the  na 
tion  alone.  These  principles  were  embodied  in  the  new 
constitution  of  1836,  and  were,  of  course,  distasteful  to  every 
friend  of  genuine  liberty/*  • 

Meanwhile,  the  beautiful  province  of  Texas  had  not  been 
an  unconcerned  spectator  of  events.  Bordering  on  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico,  and  stretching  along  our  Southern  boundary,  it 
contained  an  extensive  territory,  fine  rivers,  wide  prairies,  and 
a  soil  capable  of  maintaining  near  ten  millions  of  people. — 
Such  a  country  naturally  attracted  the  attention  of  the  peo 
ple  of  the  United  States,  numbers  of  whom  are  always  rea 
dy,  with  the  adventurous  spirit  that  characterises  our  race,  to 
seek  new  lands  and  improve  their  fortunes  by  emigrating 
from  the  crowded  places  of  their  birth.  The  project  of  colo 
nizing  Texas,  had,  therefore,  struck  an  intelligent  citizen  of 
our  country;  and,  on  the  17th  of  January,  1821,  Moses  Aus 
tin  obtained  permission  from  the  supreme  government  of  the 
eastern  internal  provinces  of  New  Spain  at  Monterey,  to  settle 
a  colony  of  emigrants  in  Texas.  Accordingly,  in  the  fol 
lowing  winter,  his  son,  Stephen  P.  Austin,  who  undertook 
the  enterprize  in  obedience  to  a  testamentary  request  of  his 
father,  appeared  on  the  Brazos  with  the  first  Anglo-Ameri 
can  settlers. 

*  Mexico  as  it  was  and  as  it  is,  pp.  336,  339.    Foote's  History  of  Texas. 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  45 

In  January,  1823,  a  national  colonization  law,  approved 
by  the  Emperor  Iturbide,  was  adopted  by  the  Mexican  con 
gress,  and,  on  the  18th  of  February,  a  decree  was  issued  au 
thorizing  Austin  to  proceed  with  the  founding  of  his  colony. 
This  decree,  after  Iturbide's  abdication  and  the  downfall  of 
the  Imperial  government',  was  confirmed  by  the  first  execu 
tive  council  in  accordance  with  a  special  order  of  the  Mexi 
can  congress. 

In  1824,  the  federal  constitution  was  adopted  and  pro 
claimed  as  the  established  polity  of  the  land; — and,  at  this 
period,  the  character  of  Texas  begins  for  the  first  time  to  as 
sume  an  independent  aspect,  for,  by  a  decree  of  the  7th  of 
May,  it  was  united  with  Coahuila,  and,  under  the  name  of 
Coahuila  and  Texas,  formed  one  of  the  constituent,  sover 
eign  States  of  the  Mexican  confederacy.  Up  to  this  period, 
whilst  all  was  proceeding  well  in  the  capital,  the  scheme  of 
emigration,  seems  to  have  met  with  no  discouragement.  By 
an  act  passed  in  August,  1824,  another  general  colonization 
law  was  established; — and,  by  a  State  colonization  law  of 
Coahuila  and  Texas,  foreigners  were  invited  to  settle  within 
the  limits  of  that  especial  jurisdiction.  Thus  it  was  that 
State  sovereignty  first  accrued  to  Texas  and  Coahuila  under 
the  federal  system, — a  system  similar  to  the  one  under  which 
the  colonists  had  formerly  lived  in  our  Union  and  under 
which,  by  the  adoption  of  their  own  State  laws,  they  signi 
fied  their  willingness  to  become  members  of  the  Mexican 
confederacy.  This  State  sovereignty  was  never  resigned, 
but,  on  the  contrary,  was  always  distinctly  asserted.  The 
federation  existed  precisely  for  the  same  purposes  that  the 
union  of  our  States  was  formed  ;  and,  as  soon  as  the  consti 
tution  was  destroyed  by  intrigue  and  revolutionary  violence 
in  1835,  the  several  States  were  remitted  to  their  inherent 
rights,  independent  of  any  military  despot  who  succeeded  in 


40  HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR    BETWEEN 

seizing  the  central  power.  Meanwhile  our  people  had 
flocked  to  Texas  under  the  belief  that  a  constitution  which 
was  a  transcript  of  our  own,  would  secure  peace  and  pros 
perity  to  settlers.  Accustomed  to  find  laws  observed  and  the 
constitution  indestructible,  they  expected  to  encounter  the 
same  regularity  and  firmness  in  that  virgin  State.  They 
were  industrious  in  their  pursuits,  and  willing  to  abide  the 
settlement  of  all  quarrels  in  the  capital ;  nor  was  it  until 
long  after  the  federal  and  centralist  disputes  commenced, 
that  they  began  even  to  notice  the  political  convulsions 
which  were  so  ominous  of  disaster.  The  quiet  and  orderly 
conduct  of  our  emigrants  was,  nevertheless,  not  regarded  so 
favorably  by  the  Mexicans.  The  rapidly  growing  strength 
of  the  Texans  and  their  strict  devotion  to  republicanism,  at 
tracted  the  jealousy  of  the  supreme  government;  and  when 
a  Mexican  begins  either  to  fear  or  to  doubt,  the  provocation 
is  quite  enough  to  convert  him  into  an  oppressor.  Accord 
ingly,  on  the  6th  of  April,  1830,  an  arbitrary  law  was  passed 
by  which  the  future  immigration  of  American  settlers  to 
Texas  was  prohibited.  Military  posts  of  surveillance  were 
established  over  the  State,  and  ignorant  and  insolent  soldiers 
of  another  race,  began  to  domineer  over  a  people  whom  they 
regarded  as  inferiors.  At  length  the  civil  authorities  of 
Texas  were  entirely  disregarded,  and  the  emigrants  hitherto 
unused  at  home  or  abroad  to  an  armed  police,  or  to  the  sight 
of  a  uniform  except  on  parade  days,  suddenly  found  them 
selves  subjected  to  the  capricious  tyranny  of  military  rule.* 

On  the  26th  of  June,  1832,  the  colonists  took  arms  against 
this  despotic  interference  with  their  constitutional  freedom  and 
beseiged  and  captured  the  fort  at  Velasco.  The  garrison  at 
Anahuac  and  that  at  Nacogdoches,  were  next  reduced;  and, 
in  December  of  that  year,  when  hostilities  were  suspended 

*  Document  No.  40,  H.  of  R.  25th  cong.  1st  sess.  p.  4. 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  47 

between  Santa  Anna  and  Bustamante,  the  colonists  were 
again  restored  to  the  enjoyment  of  their  rights  guarantied 
under  the  constitution. 

In  May  1824,  Texas  had  been  promised  a  separate  State 
constitution  as  soon  as  she  was  prepared  for  it,  but  upon  ap 
plication  to  congress  in  1833,  after  framing  a  suitable  instru 
ment  in  general  convention  at  San  Felipe,  her  request  was 
denied.  In  1835  the  crisis  at  length  arrived.  The  federal 
constitution  fell.  The  resistance  of  several  States  to  this  des 
potism  was  suppressed  by  force.  The  legislature  of  Cohuila 
and  Texas  was  dispersed  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet.  Za- 
catecas,  a  brave  stronghold  of  federalism,  was  assaulted  by 
the  central  chiefs  and  her  people  butchered.  And,  finally, 
the  whole  republic,  save  Texas,  yielded  to  Santa  Anna. 

As  this  state  at  once  resolved  to  maintain  her  sovereignty 
and  federative  rights,  corresponding  committees  of  safety  and 
vigilance  were  promptly  formed  in  all  the  municipalities. 
An  immediate  appeal  to  arms  proclaimed  the  people's  reso 
lution  to  adhere  to  the  constitution ;  and  at  Gonzales,  Goliad, 
Bexar,  Conception,  Sepantillan,  San  Patrick),  and  San  An 
tonio,  they  were  victorious  over  the  centralists.  In  Novem 
ber,  1835,  the  delegates  of  the  Texan  people  assembled  in 
"general  consultation,"  and  declared  that  "they  had  taken 
up  arms  in  defence  of  the  federal  constitution  of  1824,  and 
that  they  would  continue  faithful  to  the  Mexican  confederacy 
as  long  as  it  should  be  governed  by  the  laws  that  were  framed 
for  the  protection  of  their  political  rights;  that  they  were  no 
longer  morally  or  politically  bound  by  the  compact  of  union; 
yet,  stimulated  by  the  generous  sympathy  of  a  free  people, 
they  offered  their  assistance  to  such  members  of  the  confed 
eracy  as  would  take  up  arms  against  military  despotism. 
This  patriotic  manifesto  declaring  at  once  the  freedom  of 
Texas  and  offering  to  other  parts  of  Mexico  a  defensive  alii- 


48  HISTORY    OP    THE    WAR    BETWEEN 

ance  m  favor  of  constitutional  liberty,  found  no  response 
from  the  overawed  States,  and  thus  Texas  was  abandoned 
to  the  mercy  of  a  military  president,  who  signalized  his  cam 
paign  of  1836  by  acts  of  brutality  which  must  forever  con 
sign  his  name  to  infamy."*  Notwithstanding  Santa  Anna's 
successes  at  San  Antonio  and  his  frightful  massacres,  Gen 
eral  Houston,  the  commander  of  the  Texan  forces,  met  and 
conquered  the  Mexicans  on  the  21st  of  April,  1836,  in  the 
brilliant  action  at  San  Jacinto,  and  thenceforth,  in  the  em 
phatic  language  of  an  American  statesman  "  the  war  was  at 
an  end."f 

"  No  hostile  foot  found  rest "  within  her  territory  for  six  or 
seven  years  ensuing  this  event,  and  Mexico,  by  confining  her 
assaults  to  border  forays  practically  abstained  from  all  efforts 
to  re-establish  her  dominion.!  In  this  peaceful  interval  the 
country  rapidly  filled  up  with  emigrants;  adopted  a  constitu 
tion  ;  established  a  permanent  government,  and  obtained  an 
acknowledgement  of  her  independence  by  the  United  States 
and  other  powers.  It  was  then  supposed  that  nearly  one 
hundred  thousand  people  occupied  the  territory ;  and,  in 
1837,  they  sought  to  place  themselves  under  the  protection 
of  our  confederacy.  But  our  government  declined  the  pro 
position  made  through  the  Texan  plenipotentiary,  upon  the 
ground  that  the  treaty  of  amity  and  peace  between  the 

*  A  full  account  of  this  campaign  will  be  found  in  a  work  entitled  "  Pri- 
mera  Campaga  de  Tejas,"  published  in  Mexico  in  August  1837,  by  Don 
Ramon  Martinez  Caro,  who  was  Santa  Anna's  military  secretary  during 
the  campaign.  He  treats  his  former  chief  with  unsparing  severity,  and 
very  clearly  attributes  to  him  all  the  ferocious  acts  of  the  war.  In  Thomp 
son's  "  Recollections  of  Mexico,"  a  conversation  of  the  ex-minister  with 
Santa  Anna  will  be  found,  in  which  his  exculpation  is  attempted,  pp.  68, 
et  seq. 

f  Mr.  Webster's  letter  to  Waddy  Thompson,  8th  July,  1842. 

J  Webster  to  Thompson  ut  antca. 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  49 

United  States  and  Mexico  should  not  be  violated  by  an  act 
which  necessarily  involved  the  question  of  war  with  the  ad 
versary  of  Texas.* 

This  brief  history  of  the  Texan  revolt  against  centralism 
seems  to  place  the  authorities  of  that  country  on  a  firm  basis 
of  natural  and  constitutional  right.  In  the  constant  con 
flicts  that  have  taken  place  throughout  Mexico  between  the 
federalists  and  centralists,  or  rather  between  democracy  and 
despotism,  Texas  attempted  no  more  than  any  of  the  liberal 
States  of  Mexico  would  have  done,  had  not  the  free  voice  of 
educated  patriots  been  elsewhere  stifled  by  military  power. 
The  only  difference  between  them  is,  that  in  Texas  there 
was  .an  Anglo-American  population  bold  and  strong  enough 
to  maintain  republicanism,  whilst  in  Mexico,  the  mongrel  race 
of  Spaniards  and  Indians  was  too  feeble  to  resist  effectually. 

From  1836  to  1846  Santa  Anna  diligently  persevered  in 
the  support  of  his  central  usurpation.  But  in  the  latter  year 
the  principles  of  the  Texan  revolution  obtained  a  decided 
victory  over  military  despotism,  and  even  Santa  Anna  him 
self,  who  had  been  the  originator  of  all  the  revolutions  of  his 
country,  the  disturber  of  its  peace,  and  destroyer  of  its  politi 
cal  morality  was  forced  to  make  a  humiliating  confession  of 
his  errors. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  he  was  exiled  from  Mexico  in 
the  year  1845,  and  resided  in  Havana  until  the  summer  of 
1846,  when  a  revolution  against  the  government  of  Paredes 
prepared  the  way  for  his  return.  On  the  8th  of  March,  1846, 
in  writing  to  a  friend  a  letter  which  has  since  been  published 
he  declares  that:  "  the  love  of  provincial  liberties  being  firmly 

*  Letter  of  Mr.  Forsyth  to  General  Hunt,  25th  Aug.  1847.     Doc.  No 
40,  H.  of  R.,  25th  congress,  1st  session. 

7 


50  HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR    BETWEEN 

rooted  in  the  minds  of  all,  and  the  democratic  principle  pre 
dominating  every  where,  nothing  can  be  established  in  a 
solid  manner,  in  the  country,  which  does  not  conform  with 
these  tendencies;  nor  without  them  can  we  attain  either 
order,  peace,  prosperity,  or  respectability  among  foreign  na 
tions.  To  draw  every  thing  to  the  centre,  and  thus  to 
give  unity  of  action  to  the  republic,  as  I  at  one  time  con 
sidered  best,  is  no  longer  possible;  nay  more,  I  say  it  is  dan 
gerous;  it  is  contrary  to  the  object  which  I  proposed  for  myself 
in  the  Unitarian  system,  because  we  thereby  expose  ourselves 
to  the  separation  of  the  northern  departments,  which  are  the 
most  clamorous  for  freedom  of  internal  administration."  * 

In  this  remarkable  retraction  of  Santa  Anna's  despotic 
principles,  Texas  finds  a  perfect  vindication  of  her  revolt. 
It  would  have  been  well  for  Mexico  had  her  military  presi 
dent  been  willing  to  make  the  same  concessions  before  the 
memorable  battle  of  San  Jacinto ! 

*  Translation  of  a  letter  from  General  Santa  Anna,  in  Mexico  as  it  was 
and  as  it  is. — 4th  edition,  page  414. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


Origin  of  the  war  continued — Proposed  annexation  of  Texas  to  the  United 
States  by  treaty — Efforts  of  several  administrations  to  recover  Texas 
after  the  Florida  treaty — President  Tyler's  objects — Mexican  opinions — 
British  intrigue — British  views  relative  to  Texas — Defeat  of  the  treaty 
in  the  senate — French  opinions. 

THERE  is  no  doubt  that  although  the  government  of  the 
United  States  was  anxious  to  preserve  a  strict  neutrality  be 
tween  the  belligerents  in  1837,  and,  thus,  to  avoid  assuming 
the  war  with  Mexico  by  annexing  an  insurgent  State,  it, 
nevertheless,  refused  the  proffered  union  with  regret.  From 
the  earliest  period,  our  statesmen  contended  that,  by  the 
Louisiana  treaty,  we  acquired  a  title  to  Texas  extending  to 
the  Rio  Grande,  and  that  we  unwisely  relinquished  our  title 
to  Spain  by  the  treaty  of  1819  which  substituted  the  Sabine 
for  the  Rio  Grande  as  our  western  boundary.*  But,  divested 
as  we  were  by  solemn  compact  with  Spain,  of  what  may 
have  been  our  territory  under  the  treaty  with  France,  it  was 
idle  to  regard  Texas  as  a  proper  subject  for  restoration  to 
the  Union  whilst  active  hostilities  were  waged  by  Mexico. 
Nevertheless,  such  was  the  evident  value  of  the  province, 

*  See  Mr.  Clay's  letter  on  the  Texas  question,  Raleigh,  N.  C.,  April, 
1844.  I  shall  discuss  the  boundary  elsewhere  in  this  volume.  When 
Texas  offered  herself  in  1837  to  the  United  States  it  was  only  two  years 
after  Mexico  had  overthrown  the  federal  constitution,  and  not  even  one 
after  the  battle  of  San  Jacinto.  A  great  change  however  took  place  in 
the  general  aspect  of  affairs  between  that  period  and  the  final  annexation. 


52  HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR    BETWEEN 

and  such  the  anxiety  to  regain  our  ancient  limits  that  be 
fore  the  outbreak  of  the  revolution,  Mr.  Clay,  as  secretary  of 
state  under  the  administration  of  Mr.  Adams,  in  March  of 
the  years  1825  and  1827,  directed  Mr.  Poinsett,  our  envoy 
in  Mexico,  to  negotiate  for  the  transfer  of  Texas.  This  di 
rection  was  repeated  by  Mr.  Van  Buren  to  our  minister  in 
August,  1829;  and  was  followed  by  similar  instructions 
from  Mr.  Livingston  on  the  20th  of  March,  1833,  and  by 
Mr.  Forsyth  on  the  2d  of  July,  1835.  President  Jackson, 
however,  was  not  contented  with  negotiations  for  that  pro 
vince  alone;  but,  looking  forward,  with  statesmanlike  fore 
cast,  to  the  growth  and  value  of  our  commerce  in  the  Pacific 
ocean  as  well  as  on  the  west  coast  of  America,  be  required 
the  secretary  of  state,  in  August,  1835,  to  seek  from  Mexico 
a  cession  of  territory,  whose  boundary,  beginning  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Rio  Grande,  would  run  along  the  eastern  bank 
of  that  river  to  the  thirty-seventh  degree  of  latitude,  and  con 
tinue  thence,  by  that  parallel,  to  the  Pacific.  This  demand, 
if  granted  by  Mexico,  not  only  secured  Texas,  but  would 
have  included  the  largest  and  most  valuable  portion  of  Cali 
fornia  together  with  the  noble  bay  of  San  Francisco,  in 
which  our  navy  and  merchantmen  might  find  a  safe  and 
commodious  refuge.* 

Our  anxiety  to  reannex  Texas  by  peaceable  negotiation 
was  not  met,  however,  by  a  correspondent  feeling  upon  the 
part  of  Mexico. 

Mr.  Poinsett,  on  his  return  from  Mexico,  informed  Mr. 
Cl#y  that  he  had  forborne  even  to  make  an  overture  for  the 
repurchase  of  Texas,  because  he  knew  that  such  a  negotia 
tion  would  be  impracticable,  and  believed  that  any  hint  of 
our  desire  would  aggravate  the  irritations  already  existing 

*  Executive  document,  No.  42,  H.  of  R.,  25th  congress,  1st  session,  con 
tains  the  letters  referred  to. 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  53 

between  the  countries.*  The  events  which  subsequently 
transpired  in  Texas,  during  the  period  when  emigration  in 
creased  from  the  United  States,  to  that  of  the  actual  outbreak 
of  hostilities,  prevented  the  formation,  in  Mexico,  of  any 
party  favorable  to  such  an  enterprise ;  and,  after  the  war  be 
gan,  all  hope  of  negotiation  between  us  was  dispelled. 

"A  leading  member  of  the  Mexican  cabinet  once  remarked 
to  me,"  says  Mr.  Thompson,  in  his  Recollections  of  Mexico,f 
"  that  he  believed  the  tendency  of  things  was  towards  the  an 
nexation  of  Texas  to  the  United  States,  and  that  he  greatly 
preferred  such  a  result  either  to  the  independence  of  Texas 
or  any  connection  or  dependence  of  Texas  upon  England; 
that  if  it  became  an  independent  power,  other  departments 
of  Mexico  would  unite  with  it  either  voluntarily  or  by  con 
quest,  and  that  if  there  was  any  connexion  between  Texas 
and  England,  English  merchandize  would  be  smuggled  into 
Mexico  through  Texas  to  the  utter  ruin  of  Mexican  manu 
factures  and  revenue. 

"  In  one  of  my  last  interviews  with  Santa  Anna,"  con 
tinues  the  American  minister,  "  I  mentioned  this  conversa 
tion.  He  replied  with  great  vehemence  that  he  would  '  war 
forever  for  the  reconquest  of  Texas,  and  that  if  he  died  in 
his  senses  his  last  words  should  be  an  exhortation  to  his 
countrymen  never  to  abandon  the  effort  to  recover  the  pro 
vince  ; '  and,  added  he :  *  you  know,  sir,  very  well,  that  to 
sign  a  treaty  for  the  alienation  of  Texas  would  be  the  same 
thing  as  signing  the  death  warrant  of  Mexico,  for,  by  the 
same  process,  the  United  States  would  take  one  after  another 
of  the  Mexican  provinces,  until  they  possessed  them  all.": 

Such  were  the  feelings  of  Mexico  in  regard  to  annexation, 
and  such  the  anxieties  in  cabinets  of  .all  parties  in  the  United 

*  Mr.  Clay's  letter  on  annexation,  ut  antea, 
f  Recollections  of  Mexico,  p.  238. 


54  HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR    BETWEEN 

States  to  restore  our  ancient  limits,  when  the  presses  of  our 
country  intimated,  in  the  year  1844,  that  President  Tyler 
was  negotiating  a  treaty  of  union  with  Texas  as  an  indepen 
dent  power.  It  was  on  the  eve  a  presidential  canvass;  and 
whilst  the  incumbent  of  the  executive  chair  sought  very 
naturally  to  present  himself  to  the  people  with  the  successful 
results  of  a  popular  and  beneficial  negotiation,  there  were 
other  candidates  who  opposed  the  measure  both  on  principle 
and  policy,  as  well  as  on  account  of  the  mode  in  which  it 
was  to  be  effected. 

I  might  very  properly  in  this  historical  sketch  pass  over 
the  narrative  of  annexation,  and,  deal  with  the  union,  ulti 
mately  effected  between  Texas  and  the  United  States  as  the 
only  important  fact.  Texas,  bound  to  the  North  American 
confederacy  by  a  solemn  act  of  congress, — the  indisputable 
constitutionality  of  which -is  implied  in  its  passage, — is,  in 
deed,  the  only  subject  which  the  historian  is  compelled  to 
regard.  Whatever  results  ensued,  whether  they  were  per 
ceived  and  predicted  by  the  statesmen  of  the  time,  or,  were 
entirely  latent  until  developed  during  the  last  two  years, 
must  be  entirely  attributed  to  the  act  of  congress  which  con 
summated  annexation  and  reposed  in  the  hands  of  a  presi 
dent  the  executive  power  of  solemnizing  the  union.  Never 
theless,  I  believe  it  due  to  impartial  history  that  I  should 
state  concisely  the  causes  which  seem  to  have  provoked  an 
nexation,  and,  indeed,  rendered  it  almost  necessary  at  the 
time  when  it  occurred. 

We  have  seen  that  active  hostilities  by  Mexico  against  the 
insurgents  had  either  ceased  for  nearly  seven  years,  or  had 
been  confined  to  such  border  forays  as  resembled  predatory 
incursions  rather  than  civilized  hostilities.  Statesmen,  in  all 
parties,  regarded  the  war  as  ended ;  for  Mexico,  impoverished 
by  the  thriftless  administrations  that  ruled  and  plundered  her 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  55 

during  the  short  intervals  between  her  revolutions,  was  in  no 
condition  to  carry  it  on  with  reasonable  prospects  of  success. 
France,  England,  Belgium  and  the  United  States,  had  ac 
knowledged  Texan  independence  and  established  diplomatic 
relations  with  the  republic.  Emigrants  settled  the  interior, 
and  invited  accessions.  The  constitution  and  laws  of  the 
nation  were  fixed  upon  a  firm  basis,  while  the  government 
was  conducted  with  ability.  A  lucrative  commerce  from 
foreign  countries  began  to  pour  into  the  territory.  New 
towns  sprang  up  every  where,  and  Texas  exhibited  to  the 
world  every  evidence  of  an  orderly,  well  regulated  govern 
ment,  with  infinitely  greater  strength  and  stability  than  the 
military  republic  from  which  she  was  divorced.  Mexico, 
nevertheless,  refused  to  recognize  her  independence  notwith 
standing  her  inability  to  make  any  effort  for  reconquest. 
The  leading  men  of  Texas  anxiously  desired  that  their 
national  independence  should  continue,  and  the  moral  sense 
of  the  world,  in  contrasting  the  superior  progress  of  the 
Anglo-American  race  with  the  anarchy  and  feebleness  of 
Mexico,  was  naturally  solicitous  to  behold  the  infant  colony 
successful  rather  than  to  see  it  fall  a  prey  to  the  passions  of 
a  people  with  whom  it  had  no  sympathy,  and,  in  whose  vic 
tory,  they  might  witness  the  outpouring  of  a  pent  up  wrath 
which  would  never  cease  in  its  vindictive  persecutions  until 
the  province  was  entirely  desolated.*  This  was  not  alone 

*  It  was  evidently  the  intention  of  Mr.  Webster,  whilst  secretary  of  state, 
to  adopt  some  prudent  scheme  for  the  settlement  of  the  war  between  Texas 
and  Mexico.  In  January,  1843,  he  addressed  a  despatch  to  Mr.  Thomp 
son,  who  was  then  our  envoy  in  Mexico,  in  which  he  directs  him  to  use  his 
good  offices  with  the  Mexican  secretary  to  mitigate  the  animosity  of  the 
government.  "Mexico,"  says  he,  "has  an  undoubted  right  to  resubjugate 
Texas,  if  she  can,  so  far  as  other  states  are  concerned,  by  the  common  and 
lawful  means  of  war.  But  other  States  are  interested, — especially  the  United 
States,  a  near  neighbor  of  both  parties,  are  interested, — not  only  in  the  restoration 


56  HISTORY    OF   THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

the  common  feeling  in  the  United  States,  but  it  prevailed  in 
Europe  also.  The  British  minister  of  foreign  affairs,  Lord 
Aberdeen,  and  that  zealous  partizan  of  liberty,  Lord  Brough 
am,  took  occasion  in  the  house  of  peers  in  August,  1843,  to 
express  their  solicitude  as  to  the  prospects  of  Texas.  Lord 
Brougham  characterized  it  as  a  country  as  large  as  France, 
possessing  the  greatest  natural  capabilities,  but,  at  the  same 
time  he  perceived  in  it  an  embryo  state,  (a  large  portion  of 
whose  soil  was  adapted  to  cultivation  by  white  labor,)  which 
might  become  a  boundary  and  barrier  against  the  slavery  of 
the  United  States  of  America.  If,  by  the  good  offices  of 
England,  Mexico  could  be  induced  to  acknowledge  Texan 
independence  upon  the  condition  of  abolishing  slavery,  he 
suggested  the  hope  that  it  would  lead  to  the  extinction  of 
slavery  in  the  southern  States  of  our  Union. 

Lord  Aberdeen  replied  to  Lord  Brougham,  that  England 
ha(J  not  only  acknowledged  her  independence,  but  had  also 
negotiated  with  Texas  a  treaty  of  commerce  as  well  as  one 
for  the  abolition  of  the  slave  trade.  He  did  not  believe  that 
there  was  any  importation  of  slaves  into  Texas  by  sea,  but, 
he  alleged,  there  was  a  large  influx  of  slaves  from  the  United 
States  to  that  country.  As  soon  as  negotiations  were  com 
menced  with  Texas,  the  utmost  endeavors  of  England  had 
been  used  to  end  the  war  which  prevented  the  full  recogni- 

qf  'peace  between  them,  lut  also  in  the  manner  in  which  the  war  shall  be  conducted 
if  it  shall  continue.  These  suggestions  may  suffice  for  what  you  are  re 
quested  to  say  amicably  and  kindly  to  the  Mexican  secretary,  at  present  ; 
but  I  may  add,  for  your  information,  that  it  is  in  the  contemplation  of  this  go 
vernment  to  remonstrate,  in  a  more  formal  manner,  with  Mexico,  at  a  period  not 
far  distant,  unless  she  shall  consent  to  make  peace  with  Texas,  or  shall  show  the 
disposition  and  ability  to  prosecute  the  war  with  respectable  forces.  Executive 
document,  No.  271,  H.  of  R.,  28th  cong.,  1st  ses.,  p.  69. 

For  the  opinions  of  French  statesmen  on  this  question  see  the  debate  be 
tween  Guizot,  Thiers,  Berreyer  and  others,  reported  in  vol.  70,  of  Nilea' 
Register,  p.  25,  26. 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  57 

don  of  the  independence  of  Texas  by  Mexico;  but  all  their 
endeavors  had  been  met  by  difficulties,  although  he  was 
happy  to  declare  that  an  armistice  had  been  established  be 
tween  the  two  powers  which  he  hoped  would  lead  to  the 
absolute  acknowledgment  of  her  independence.  In  the  ex 
isting  state  of  negotiations  between  the  parties,  however,  he 
thought  it  would  not  contribute  to  an  useful  end  to  express 
any  opinion  as  to  the  state  of  those  negotiations,  nevertheless 
he  assured  his  noble  friend  that  the  matter  would  be  pressed 
by  every  means  in  the  power  of  her  majesty's  ministers. 

The  answer  of  Lord  Brougham  to  this  conversational 
speech  of  the  minister  of  foreign  affairs,  was  brief  but  omi 
nous.  Nothing,  he  declared,  could  be  more  satisfactory  to 
him,,  whilst  the  statement  of  his  lordship  "  would  be  hailed 
with  joy  by  all  who  were  favorable  to  the  object  of  anti- 
slavery  societies."* 

I  do  not  design  in  this  history  to  discuss  either  the  slavery 
question  or  the  British  project  of  propagating  seditious 
opinions  upon  negro  servitude  by  means  of  diplomacy  on  this 
continent.  But,  when  we  remember  the  guaranties  of  our 
constitution  and  the  preponderence  of  the  black  population 
in  our  southern  States,  it  must  be  conceded  that  it  requires 
no  great  degree  of  sensibility  to  alarm  the  white  inhabitants 
of  that  section  and  to  render  them  anxious  to  counteract  the 
avowed  machinations  of  Great  Britain.  The  abstract  ques 
tion  of  the  right  of  slavery  is  altogether  distinct  from  slavery 
as  it  exists  in  this  Union,  and  as  the  foundation  of  property, 
population,  labor,  and,  even,  existence  in  the  south. 

For  many  years  past  the  fanaticism  of  freedom  has  been 

*  Debates  in  the  British  house  of  lords,  Friday  18th  August,  1843,  re 
ported  in  the  London  Morning  Chronicle  of  the  19th ;  and  see  executive 
document,  No.  271,  H.  of  R.,  28th  congress,  1st  session. 
8 


58 


HISTORY    OF   THE    WAR    BETWEEN 


warring  against  slavery,  until  it  has  created  in  our  country  a 
fanaticism  of  slavery  which  was  quite  as  relentless  in  its  ob 
stinacy.  It  was  therefore,  natural  that  individuals  who  had 
refused  our  own  congress  the  right  to  interfere  with  slavery, 
by  denying  the  privilege  of  petition  for  the  abolition  of  sla 
very  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  should  resist  most  ardently 
the  Jesuitical  propagandist!!  of  a  foreign  power. 

This  was  a  question  of  grave  importance  to  the  south.  It 
was  an  avowal  of  European  policy  that  struck  a  death  blow  at 
American  property ;  nor  was  it  therefore  at  all  surprising  to 
see  Mr.  Calhoun,  our  secretary  of  state,  who  was  a  native 
and  inhabitant  of  that  part  of  the  union,  at  once  seize  upon 
the  project  of  prompt  annexation  as  the  only  means  of  coun 
teracting  the  evils  of  British  diplomacy.  If  expressions, 
similar  to  those  used  by  Lords  Aberdeen  and  Brougham  in 
the  English  parliament,  had  been  casually  uttered  in  the 
warm  debates  of  our  congress,  perhaps  but  little  attention 
would  have  been  paid  them  by  reflecting  men ;  yet  the  most 
trifling  observations  of  British  statesmen  always  deserve  no 
tice,  because  they  are  well  pondered  and  deliberately  made. 
The  opinions  of  Lord  Brougham,  assented  to  by  the  silence 
of  Lord  Aberdeen,  had  consequently  an  emphatic  signifi 
cance;  and  although  the  British  minister  of  foreign  affairs, 
as  well  as  the  envoy  at  Washington,  subsequently  disclaimed 
any  attempt  to  interfere  with  the  internal  system  of  the 
United  States,  yet  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  they  wished 
to  modify  the  condition  and  laws  of  a  southern  neighbor  so 
as  to  effect  indirectly  what  prudence  taught  them  to  avoid 
openly.*  "Great  Britain,"  said  Lord  Aberdeen,  in  a  de- 

*  Ex.  Doc.  No.  271,  H.  of  R.,  28  cong.,  1st  sess.  p.  48,  et  scq :— In  an  in 
terview  between  Lord  Aberdeen  and  Mr.  Everett,  in  November,  1843,  the 
secretary  of  foreign  affairs  told  him  that  England  had  long  been  pledged  to 
encourage  the  abolition  of  the  slave  trade  and  of  slavery,  as  far  as  her  influ- 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  59 

spatcli  to  the  Hon.  Mr.  Pakenham,  on  the  26th  December, 
1843,  "does  not  desire  to  establish  in  Texas,  whether  par 
tially  dependent  on  Mexico  or  entirely  independent,  any 
dominant  influence.  She  only  wishes  to  share  her  influence 
equally  with  other  nations.  Her  objects  are  purely  commer 
cial,  and  she  has  no  thought  or  intention  of  seeking  to  act 
directly  or  indirectly,  in  a  political  sense,  on  the  United 
States  through  Texas." 

It  cannot  be  expected — for  it  is  not  the  nature  or  policy 
of  governments — that  statesmen  should  disclose  to  each  other, 
with  perfect  frankness,  all  their  international  ambitions, 
projects  or  hopes.  A  wise  diplomacy  conceals  these  things 

ence  extended  and  in  every  proper  way,  but  had  no  wish  to  interfere  with 
the  internal  concerns  of  governments.  In  reference  to  Texas,  he  said  that 
"the  suggestion  that  England  had  made  or  intended  to  make  the  abolition 
of  slavery  the  condition  of  any  treaty  arrangement  with  her  was  wholly 
without  foundation." — id.  page  38.  The  direct  interference  of  England  in 
the  internal  affairs  of  other  governments  has  often  been  very  distinctly 
manifested  notwithstanding  Lord  Aberdeen's  disavowal.  There  is  scarce 
ly  a  country  in  Europe  which  has  been  unvisited  by  her  arms  or  her  diplo 
macy,  either  when  it  became  her  interest  to  do  so,  or  when  she  had  the 
necessary  force  to  make  success  unquestionable.  Her  policy  is,  perhaps, 
not  so  much  one  of  ambition  as  of  avarice  or  necessity.  She  must  feed  her 
multitudes  at  home ;  and  an  extension  of  her  wide  spread  commerce,  with 
co-extensive  privileges  in  new  countries,  will  open  new  sources  of  wealth 
to  her  people.  Nations  are  not  to  be  blamed  for  seeking  such  advantages ; 
but  the  nearer  neighbor  should  be  equally  blameless  for  grasping,  if  possi 
ble,  the  benefit  for  herself,  so  as  to  keep  off  a  dangerous  rival  and  secure 
the  revenues  which  otherwise  would  flow  into  that  rival's  coffers. 

The  excursive  philanthropy  of  England  was  admirably  depicted  by  the 
Frenchman,  who,  according  to  the  London  Times  remarked  that:  "  Your 
Englishman  knows  all  about  Timbuctoo,  or  Hindoostan,  or  the  frozen  re 
gions  about  the  North  Pole ;  but  ask  him  about  Ireland,  the  country  lying 
next  his  own,  and  he  is  perfectly  innocent  of  any  information  on  the  sub 
ject.  Africa  he  investigates — Ireland  he  neglects.  He  weeps  for  the  suf 
fering  of  the  negro,  but  allows  his  Irish  fellow  subject  to  live  in  ignorance 
and  filth,  and  often  to  die  of  starvation." 


60  HISTORY    OP   THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

whilst  in  progress.  But  all  governments  take  means  to  ob 
tain  secretly,  as  far  as  they  are  able,  an  insight  into  the  views 
of  each  other.  The  diplomacy  of  the  United  States,  al 
though  generally  very  frank,  is  nevertheless  employed  some 
times  in  this  way,  and,  I  believe  our  records  will  show,  that 
wherever  it  became  necessary  for  our  departments  to  get  in 
formation  upon  projects  touching  the  interests  of  our  country, 
they  have  always  found  means  to  discover  the  truth. 

It  is  fortunate  for  the  history  of  this  annexation  question 
that  the  commercial  designs  alluded  to  by  Lord  Aberdeen 
have  been  revealed  -to  us.  Some  of  the  statements  are  made 
anonymously,  yet,  from  the  very  nature  of  such  disclosures 
whilst  negotiations  were  pending,  it  cannot  be  expected  that 
the  names  of  informants  would  be  revealed.  Their  value 
and  character  must  be  vouched  for  alone  by  the  officers  who 
communicate  them  to  the  world,  and  deem  them  sufficient 
to  authorize  the  action  of  government.  The  authorities,  to 
which  I  allude,  were  communicated  to  congress  by  President 
Tyler  in  May,  1844,  and  were  submitted  to  him  by  Mr. 
Calhouri,  as  secretary  of  state,  on  the  16th  of  that  month.* 

By  a  convention,  concluded  in  London  on  the  14th  of 
November,  1840,  between  Her  Majesty's  government  and 
the  republic  of  Texas,  it  was  agreed  that  the  queen  should 
tender  her  good  offices  to  Mexico  as  mediator  between  the  bel 
ligerents.  Mexico,  however,  saw  fit  to  reject  this  offer.  But 
Texas,  still  animated  by  a  desire  for  peace,  sought  to  obtain 
a  triple  mediation  of  the  three  great  powers, — the  United 
States,  France  and  England, — with  the  hope  that  under 
their  auspices  a  settlement  might  speedily  be  made.  To  this 
arrangement,  the  governments  of  France  and  the  United 
States  assented  with  alacrity ;  while  the  government  of  Great 

*  Ex.  Doc.  No.  271,  H.  of  R.,  28th  cong.,  1st  sess.  p.  101,  et  seq. 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  61 

Britain,  though  expressing  an  ardent  desire  to  do  all  in  its 
power  by  private  mediatorial  efforts,  inclined  to  the  opinion 
that  it  would  be  better,  on  all  accounts,  for  each  party  to  act 
alone,  though  similarly  in  point  of  tone  and  argument,  in 
urging  the  Mexican  government  to  recognize  the  indepen 
dence  of  Texas. 

This  suggestion  was  communicated  through  Lord  Cowley 
the  British  ambassador  in  Paris,  to  the  French  government, 
by  whom  it  was  approved.* 

By  this  act  of  the  British  cabinet,  it  preserved  its  indepen 
dence  of  all  others,  and  abstained  from  combined  action 
which  would,  necessarily,  have  disclosed  its  motives  as  well 
as  its  conduct.  The  objects  of  the  ministers  in  retaining 
their  independence  of  all  other  cabinets  will  now  become 
more  manifest. 

If  an  abstract  love  of  liberty  is,  indeed,  the  true  cause  why 
England  seeks  to  abolish  slavery  throughout  the  world  and 
has  set  the  example  of  emancipation  in  her  West  India  colo 
nies,  she  may  really  deserve  the  high  commendation  of  phi 
lanthropists.  But  it  cannot  be  denied  that  whilst  she  dif 
fuses  a  spirit  of  individual  freedom,  she  does  not  regret  to 
behold  national  dependence  on  herself  established  by  interest 
and  necessity.  We  find  among  the  documents  transmitted 
to  congress  by  President  Tyler,  a  number  of  private  letters, 
in  which  it  is  alleged  that  the  primary  object  of  Great  Bri 
tain's  interference  was  to  prevent  absolute  annexation  to  the 
United  States.  Indeed,  Lord  Aberdeen,  in  May,  1844,  de 
clared  to  Mr.  Everett  that  he  "  shared  with  Lord  Brougham 
the  hope  and  belief  that  the  treaty  for  annexation  would  not 
be  ratified  by  our  senate. "f 

If  the  independence  of  Texas  could  be  secured  on  the 

*  Id — p.  70.    Letter  of  Mr.  Van  Zandt  to  Mr.  Webster, 
t  Id.— p.  100.    Washington,  24th  January,  1843. 


62  HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR    BETWEEN 

only  probable  ground  upon  which  Mexico  would  acknow 
ledge  it, — a  pledge  that  she  would  not  subsequently  join  the 
United  States; — and  if  so  desirable  a  result, — which  appealed 
directly  to  the  ambition  and  vanity  of  the  leading  men  of 
Texas,  could  be  effected  by  the  secret  negotiations  of  her 
ministers,  England  foresaw  that  she  would  obtain  a  decided 
advantage  over  us  in  future  negotiations,  without  a  positive 
treaty  stipulation  to  that  effect.  Texas,  with  every  element 
of  prosperity  in  her  people  and  territory,  was  war-worn,  and 
suffering  from  pecuniary  embarrassments  in  which  her  revo 
lution  plunged  her.  For  an  agricultural  and  commercial 
people,  peace  and  stability,  under  almost  any  liberal  govern 
ment,  are  all  that  is  requisite  to  insure  progress.  England, 
a  free,  maratime  and  manufacturing  country,  deeply  inter 
ested  in  Mexico  as  a  purchaser,  and  in  the  United  States  as 
a  rival,  was  precisely  the  nation  to  secure  these  advantages 
for  Texas,  especially  as  that  republic  offered  a  point  d'appui 
which  she  could  not  find  elsewhere  on  this  continent. 

The  "  free  trade  "  policy  of  Great  Britain  was  consequently 
addressed  to  the  cupidity  of  Texas  as  a  bewitching  allure 
ment;  and  this  was,  perhaps,  secretly  coupled  with  pecu 
niary  offers  which  would  enable  her  to  struggle  against  ad 
verse  fortune  during  tbe  first  years  of  independence. 

This  liberal  system,  while  it  attracted  to  England  the  cot 
ton  of  Texas  in  British  vessels,  would  necessarily  raise  the 
national  duties  of  the  republic  to  the  highest  standard  on 
American  produce  and  provisions,  at  the  same  time  that  it 
introduced  the  manufactures  of  England  without  imposts. 
The  schemers  who  had  achieved  emancipation  in  the  Bri 
tish  West  Indies*  imagined  that  the  same  result  might  be 
produced  in  Texas  by  sufficient  inducements,  and  that  white 
labor  or  apprentices  would  supply  the  place  of  slaves,  thus 

*  See  Lord  Brougham's  speech,  ut  antea. 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  63 

striking  an  indirect  blow  at  slavery  in  the  southern  States  of 
our  Union.  Besides  this,  England  would  find  a  market  for 
her  manufactures  which  might  temptingly  address  itself  to 
the  cupidity  of  the  United  States  and  of  Mexico  as  well  as 
of  Texas.  For,  with  such  an  extent  of  frontier  on  all  sides, 
and  with  wastes  between  us,  inhabited  by  a  sparse  or  reck 
less  population,  the  greatest  inducements  would  be  offered  to 
convert  Texas  into  a  smuggling  ground  not  only  for  our 
Union  but  especially  for  Mexico,  whence  British  fabrics  are 
almost  excluded  by  exhorbitant  tariffs.  The  policy  of  Eng 
land  would  thus  affect  simultaneously  our  manufactures  as 
well  as  our  commerce.  Instead  of  sending  her  merchandize 
to  New  York,  she  would  find  in  Galveston  a  readier  market 
to  supply  our  southern  States  through  the  medium  of  contra 
band.*  Her  goods  would  naturally  have  been  carried  in 
British  vessels,  and  thus  the  labor  and  commerce  of  the 
United  States  would  be  directly  injured  by  England  until 
we  could  afford  to  navigate  and  manufacture  at  cheaper 
rates.f 

*  Any  one  who  is  familiar  with  the  condition  of  our  Canadian  frontier 
v/ill  understand  the  ease  with  which  smuggling  in  British  fabrics  is  carried 
on  between  the  countries.  An  extensive  business  has,  doubtless,  always 
been  sustained;  and  it  is  not  unusual  even  for  the  ladies  of  certain  towns 
along  the  frontier,  to  shop  in  Canada,  with  the  understanding  that  their  pur 
chases  are  to  be  delivered  at  the  risk  of  the  British  vender,  on  the  other  side  of 
the  American  line ! 

f  Executive  document,  271,  H.  of  R.,  28th  cong.,  1st  sess.  Letter  of 
Mr.  Allen  to  Hon.  R.  J.  Walker,  and  other  letters  copied  on  pages  103  and 
105  of  the  same  document. 

The  government  of  the  United  States  entertained  such  views  of  the 
grasping  policy  of  England  for  reasons  which  are  clearly  set  forth  in  an 
able  despatch  from  Mr.  Calhoun  to  Mr.  King,  our  envoy  at  the  court  of 
France.  "  The  question,"  says  the  secretary  of  state,  "  is,  by  what  means 
can  Great  Britain  regain  and  keep  a  superiority  in  tropical  cultivation, 
commerce  and  influence  ?  Or  shall  that  be  abandoned  and  other  nations, 
suffered  to  acquire  the  supremacy  even  to  the  extent  of  supplying  British 


64  HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR    BETWEEN 

The  impolicy  of  permitting  our  carrying  trade  and  home 
market,  in  such  a  country,  to  pass  out  of  our  hands  into 
those  of  a  commercial  rival,  and  the  dangers  of  counteracting 
or  creating  a  contraband  system  which  would  almost  imme 
diately  ensue,  commended  this  annexation  promptly  to  the 
notice  of  President  Tyler.  He  perceived  in  British  supre 
macy  in  Texas  a  multitude  of  evils.  Collisions  would  arise 
which  must  endanger  our  peace.  The  power  and  influence 
of  England  would  be  intruded,  geographically,  on  territory 
lying  between  us  and  Mexico.  A  large  increase  of  our  mili 
tary  forces  would  be  necessary,  not  only  to  protect  the  United 
States  from  daily  disputes  with  Texans,  but  to  guard  the 
border  inhabitants  against  hostile  inroads  from  Indians. 
Texas,  he  was  authoritatively  told,  would  seek  the  friend 
ship  of  other  nations  if  denied  the  protection  of  ours;  and,  in 
a  condition  of  almost  hopeless  abandonment,  would  natu 
rally  fall  an  easy  prey  to  any  power  that  would  protect  her, 
should  we  refuse  our  alliance.* 

markets  to  the  destruction  of  the  capital  already  vested  in  their  produc 
tion  ?  These  are  the  questions  which  now  profoundly  occupy  the  attention 
of  her  statesmen  and  have  the  greatest  influence  over  her  councils. 

"  In  order  to  regain  her  superiority  she  not  only  seeks  to  revive  and  in 
crease  her  own  capacity  to  produce  tropical  productions,  but  to  diminish 
and  destroy  the  capacity  of  those  who  have  so  far  outstripped  her  in  con 
sequence  of  her  error.  In  pursuit  of  the  former,  she  has  cast  her  eyes  to 
her  East  India  possessions,  to  Central  and  Eastern  Africa,  with  the  view 
of  establishing  colonies  there,  and  even  to  restore,  substantially,  the  slave 
trade  itself,  under  the  specious  name  of  transporting  free  laborers  from 
Africa  to  her  West  India  possessions,  in  order,  if  possible,  to  compete  suc 
cessfully  with  those  who  have  refused  to  follow  her  suicidal  policy.  Her 
main  reliance,  however,  is  on  the  other  alternative,  to  cripple  or  destroy 
the  productions  of  her  successful  rivals.  There  is  but  one  Avay  by  which 
it  can  be  done,  and  that  is  by  abolishing  African  slavery  throughout  this 
continent ;  and  that  she  avows  to  be  the  constant  object  of  her  policy  and 
exertions."  Senate  doc.  No.  1,  28th  cong.  1st  sess.  p.  44. 

*  President  Tyler's  message  to  the  senate,  22nd  April,  1844. 


* 

MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  65 

Such  were  some  of  the  reasons  that  induced  the  president, 
in  1844,  to  direct  Mr.  Upshur,  who  was  the  secretary  of  state, 
to  negotiate  a  treaty  of  annexation  between  the  United  States 
and  Mexico,  and  thus,  in  his  emphatic  language, — "to  break 
up  and  scatter  to  the  winds  the  web  of  European  intrigues."* 

This  treaty  was  transmitted  to  the  senate  on  the  22nd  of 
April,  1844,  and  immediately  became  the  topic  of  discussion 
throughout  the  country.  It  was  opposed  and  defended  by 
some  of  the  most  distinguished  men  in  the  country.  General 
Jackson  pleaded  that  the  golden  moment  might  not  be  lost, 
and  that  we  should  not  throw  Texas  into  the  arms  of  Eng 
land,  f  Mr.  Clay,  whose  nomination  as  a  presidential  can 
didate  was  expected  to  be  shortly  made,  and  Mr.  Van  Buren 
whose  name  was  also  speedily  to  come  before  a  democratic 
convention  assembled  to  select  a  candidate  for  the  chief 
magistracy,  both  published  long  and  argumentative  letters 
against  the  project.  The  debate  on  the  treaty  in  the  senate 
was  eager,  and  able.  The  northern  abolitionists  regarded  it 
as  a  measure  frought  with  danger  to  their  cause,  and  as  the 
basis  of  perpetual  slavery,  whilst  the  southern  slave  owners 
hailed  annexation  as  a  boon,  which,  at  least  for  a  season, 
would  stay  the  aggressive  arm  that  was  raised  against  their 
rights  and  interests. 

At  leiagth,  the  senate  finally  rejected  the  treaty;  but  Presi 
dent  Tyler,  by  a  message  to  the  house  of  representatives, 
dated  the  10th  of  June,  transmitted  the  rejected  document  to 
the  popular  branch  of  the  national  legislature,  so  that,  with 
out  suggesting  the  mode  of  annexation,  the  house  of  repre 
sentatives  might  decide  whether  it  should  be  accomplished  in 
any  shape. 

*  Letter  of  President  Tyler  to  the  Richmond  Enquirer  in  1847. 
f  President  Jackson's  letter  17th  March,  1844,  written  in  consequence  of 
a  private  mission  to  him  from  President  Houston  of  Texas. 

9 


« 

66  HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

At  that  moment,  however,  new  elements  of  political  com 
motion  were  introduced  in  the  nomination  of  Mr.  Clay  and 
Mr.  Polk  by  the  respective  party  conventions  held  in  Balti 
more,  and  the  project  passed  from  the  national  legislature  to 
the  people  for  discussion  during  the  presidential  canvass. 

NOTE. — The  opinions  and  arguments  adduced  by  the  president  in  support 
of  annexation  have  been  singularly  fortified  by  disclosures  subsequent  to 
the  union  between  Texas  and  the  United  States.  The  British  cabinet, 
mortified  by  defeat,  has  been  silent  upon  the  subject,  but  singular  develop 
ments  were  made  in  debate  in  the  French  chambers.  On  the  12th  and 
20th  of  January,  1846,  a  discussion  took  place  between  Messieurs  Guizot, 
Thiers,  Berreyer  and  others,  in  which  the  Texas  question,  and  the  position 
of  France,  in  the  event  of  war  between  the  United  States  and  England, 
upon  the  Oregon  question,  was  warmly  debated.  The  minister,  Guizot, 
alleged  that  in  all  the  negotiations  with  Texas,  France  had  sought  com 
mercial  relations  in  consequence  of  the  advantages  offered  of  markets  for 
French  goods.  He  declared  that  it  was  his  policy  to  interpose  an,  indepen- 
dent  State  in  the  midst  of  the  United  States,  and  that  he  believed  it  to  be  advisable 
to  multiply  the  number  of  secondary  independent  States  on  our  continent,  as  the 
commercial  and  political  interests  of  France  would  suffer  materially  by  the 
foundation  of  a  governmental  unity  in  America.  He  watched  our  progress 
with  a  jealous  eye,  and  he  considered  the  policy  of  the  United  States  in 
refusing  to  be  the  ally  of  any  European  power  both  right  and  wise  in  our 
view  of  the  question. 

M.  Thiers,  the  former  minister,  replied  to  M.  Guizot;  and,  after  assert 
ing  fhat  Texas  had  been  annexed  to  our  Union  "  to  the  great  displeasure 
of  England,  and,  as  far  as  could  be  discovered,  to  the  great  displeasure  of 
France,"  he  declared  that  it  was  the  true  interest  of  his  government  to 
place  Texas  under  the  patronage  of  a  powerful  nation  like  ours  rather  than 
to  abandon  it  to  the  influence  of  England.  "  You  are  aware,"  said  he, 
"  that  Texas  is  of  great  importance  to  the  United  States,  and  that  its  possession 
was  anxiously  desired  by  that  power:  I  will  add  that  never  was  an  annexa 
tion  made  in  a  more  regular  manner.  For  more  than  ten  years  Texas  had 
been  separated  from  Mexico,  and  all  the  powers,  including  France,  had 
recognised  it."  He  regarded  the  union  of  England  and  France  in  diplo 
macy  between  Mexico,  Texas,  and  the  United  States,  as  adopted  only  to 
redeem  the  faults  of  the  French  cabinet  during  the  last  five  years,  and  as  a 
truckling  peace-offering  for  its  conduct  on  the  question  of  the  "right  of 
search."  But,  of  all  the  French  orators  and  statesmen,  none  denounced 


CHAPTER  V. 


Change  of  public  feeling  as  to  annexation — Election  of  President  Polk — 
Mr.  Clay  defeated  by  the  abolitionists— Almonte's  threat — President  Ty 
ler  attempts  to  soothe  Mexico — His  failure  to  do  so — Mexican  projects 
of  reconquest — Want  of  confidence  in  Santa  Anna — Loans — Downfall 
and  disgrace  of  Santa  Anna — His  expulsion  to  Cuba — Herrera  made  pro 
visional  president — Congress  of  United  States  reconsiders  annexation — 
Joint  resolution  passed  with  an  alternative  of  negotiation — President 
Tyler  adopts  the  first  clause,  and  why — European  intrigues — France  and 
England  operating  on  Texas  and  Mexico — Mexico  offers  independence 
provided  Texas  will  not  annex  herself  to  the  United  States — Defeat  of 
of  the  foreign  scheme. 

WHEN  Congress  met  in  December,  1844,  a  remarkable 
change  had  come  over  the  political  world  in  the  United  States. 
The  extraordinary  popularity  of  Mr.  Clay  induced  reflective 
men  to  believe,  at  the  close  of  the  last  session,  that  he  would 
be  elected  president,  and  that  the  prospects  of  immediate  an 
nexation  would  probably  be  blighted  by  that  event.  The 
great  body  of  his  partizans  opposed  the  project  of  President 
Tyler;  but  the  Democratic  convention,  assembled  in  Balti- 

the  conduct  of  the  cabinet  with  more  zeal  than  the  eloquent  Berreyer.  He 
proved  by  facts  and  documents  that  it  was  at  the  instance  of  England,  and 
in  subservience  to  her,  that  the  French  government  interposed,  (as  will  be 
seen  in  the  following  chapter,)  to  maintain  the  separate  independence  of 
Texas: — "We  have  not  limited  ourselves" — exclaimed  he — "to  a  wish 
and  a  counsel  that  Texas  should  retain  her  freedom,  but  we  have  been  led 
to  take  a  part  in  that  which  I  regret  I  am  compelled*  to  regard  as  nothing 
else  than  an  intrigue,  which,  unfortunately  for  our  national  dignity  has 
borne  all  the  marks  of  an  intrigue,  and  has  met,  at  last,  its  humiliation." — 
Niles'  Register,  vol.  70,  pp.  25,  26,  27,  28,  and  vol.  68,  p.  290. 


68  HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

more,  in  May,  inscribed  the  fortunes  of  Texas  on  its  banner 
together  with  the  name  of  that  party's  candidate.  The 
south  immediately  rallied  around  it,  whilst  the  north  as 
sumed  strange  grounds  of  objection  to  the  course  of  Mr. 
Clay.  The  Native  American  and  Abolition  parties  in  New 
York  professed  to  vote  with  the  friends  of  that  gentleman  in 
consequence  of  his  opposition  to  annexation,  and  yet  a  suffi 
cient  number  to  defeat  his  election  cast  their  ballots  in  direct 
contradiction  of  their  principles.  This  was  but  another  lesson 
of  the  danger  of  confiding  in  men  or  parties  who  have  but  a 
single  idea.  The  folly  of  fanaticism  commonly  leads  to  vio 
lent  inconsistencies,  but  perhaps  a  more  palpable  one  was 
never  exhibited  than  in  the  result  of  the  presidential  election 
of  1844. 

When  the  project  of  annexation  was  first  discussed  in 
1843  in  the  gazettes  of  the  day,  and  before  any  decided  ac 
tion  by  the  president  or  secretary  of  state,  General  Almonte, 
who  was  then  Mexican  envoy  at  Washington,  protested  earn 
estly  against  the  act,  and  even  threatened,  by  express  order 
of  his  government,  that  on  sanction1  being  given  to  the  in 
corporation  of  Texas  into  the  United  States,  he  would  con 
sider  his  mission  as  ended,  seeing  that  the  Mexican  govern 
ment  was  resolved  to  declare  war  as  soon  as  it  received  infor 
mation  of  such  a  deed.* 

But  Mr.  Tyler,  disregarding  the  irascible  temper  of  the 
minister  and  his  government,  despatched  pacific  and  soothing 
instructions  to  our  charge  at  Mexico,  intimating  a  desire  to 
act  justly  towards  that  republic,  and  to  settle  all  questions 
growing  out  of  the  treaty  as  well  as  of  boundary  on  the  most 
liberal  terms. f 

The  Mexican*  government,  however,  would  listen  to  no 

*  Senate  doc.  No.  341,  28th  cong.  1st  sess.  p.  95. 
t  Senate  doc.  No.  1,  28th  cong.  2d  sess.  p.  53. 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  69 

proposals  of  accommodation.  The  Texan  question,  as  we 
have  seen,  was  always  one  of  great  annoyance  to  the  Mexi 
can  authorities;  for  although  they  acknowledged,  in  effect, 
that  their  dominion  was  really  lost  over  Texas,  yet  their  na 
tional  pride  and  public  feeling  forced  them  to  project,  if  they 
did  not  attempt,  its  reconquest.*  Besides  this,  darkness  was 
gathering  around  the  fate  of  Santa  Anna,  who  dared  not  un 
dertake  negotiations  upon  a  subject  so  unpopular. 

When  a  new  congress  assembled  in  Mexico  in  January, 
1844,  it  was  disposed  to  aid  the  executive  in  his  scheme  of 
reconquest.  Four  millions  of  dollars  were  therefore  .granted 
him ;  but  when  he  claimed  ten  millions  for  the  same  pur 
pose,  whilst  it  was  notorious  that  the  first  grant  had  not  yet 
been  collected,  the  members  of  congress  absolutely  refused 
to  sustain  Santa  Anna's  measures  for  the  recovery  of  the  lost 
territory.  This  refusal  was  not  grounded  upon  any  aversion 
of  the  Mexicans  from  reconquest,  but  solely  because  they 
believed  the  money  would  be  extorted  from  the  people  only 
to  be  plundered  by  the  president  and  his  myrmidons.  The 
politicians  and  country  had  alike,  lost  confidence  in  him; 
and  Santa  Anna,  observing  the  rising  storm,  obtained  per 
mission  from  congress  to  retire  to  his  estate  of  Manga  de 
Clavo  near  the  sea  coast  at  Vera  Cruz,  whilst  his  friend  Don 
Valentin  Canalizo  took  his  place  in  the  capital  as  president 
ad  interim. 

Santa  Anna  hardly  reached  his  estate  when  a  fatal  blow 
was  struck  against  his  administration  from  the  departmen 
tal  junta  of  Jalisco.  This  revolt  was  lead  by  General  Pa- 
iedes,  and  after  a  multitude  of  military  and  diplomatic 

*  General  Almonte,  the  Mexican  envoy,  in  a  conversation  in  New  York, 
confessed  to  the  writer,  in  the  spring  of  1843,  that  Texas  was  lost  to  Mexi 
co,  but  that  all  then  desired  by  his  countrymen  was  to  save  the  point  of 
honor  before  they  acknowledged  its  independence. 


70 


HISTORY    OP    THE    WAR   BETWEEN 


mano2uvres,  resulted  in  Santa  Anna's  downfall  on  the 
4th  of  January,  1845.  The  ex- president  fled  towards 
the  sea-coast;  but  was  captured  by  a  detachment  of 
volunteers  at  the  village  of  Jico,  whence  he  was  trans 
ferred  under  a  strong  escort  to  the  castle  of  Perote.  It 
is  difficult  even  to  imagine  the  bitter  wrath  with  which  the 
Mexican  people  assailed  the  captured  chief.  He,  who  but 
a  few  months  before  exercised  despotic  sway  over  the  land, 
was  now  a  prisoner  and  at  the  mercy  of  the  mob.  His 
friends  interposed  in  this  emergency  to  save  his  life  both  from 
popular  fury  and  judicial  action  which  might  make  it  the 
penalty  of  his  misrule.  The  strife  was  long  and  anxious, 
but,  at  length,  an  amnesty  was  declared,  under  which  Santa 
Anna  departed  for  Cuba  on  the  29th  of  May,  1845,  accom 
panied  by  his  wife  and  daughter.*  The  fury  of  the  people 
against  the  exile  may  be  imagined  from  the  fact  that  they 
exhausted  every  means  by  which  they  could  manifest  their 
hatred  of  his  deeds  and  memory.  They  thronged  the  streets 
singing  ribald  songs,  and  hawking  ridiculous  caricatures; — 
they  tore  his  pictures  from  the  walls,  and  hurled  his  statutes 
from  their  pedestals;  and,  with  the  fiendishness  of  hyenas, 
they  even  snatched  from  the  grave  the  leg  he  had  lost  in 
battle  with  the  French  at  Vera  Cruz,  and  tossed  it  about  the 
streets  of  Mexico  !f 

The  result  of  Santa  Anna's  downfall  was  the  establish 
ment  of  a  provisional  government  under  General  Herrera, 
president  of  the  council.  This  person  is  represented  to  have 
been  a  discreet  officer,  whose  judgment  naturally  led  him  to 
see  the  wisdom  of  a  pacific  course  towards  the  United  States, 
but  whose  destiny  was  finally  controlled  by  the  rash  and  un 
principled  conduct  of  insurrectionary  demagogues. 

*  Mexico  as  it  was  and  as  it  is,  4th  Ed.  Letter  xxv.  p.  367. 
t  Id.  page  382. 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  71 

Meanwhile  the  congress  of  the  United  States  reconsidered 
the  Texan  question,  and  after  a  long  and  ardent  debate, 
finally  passed  a  joint  resolution  for  annexation,  with  an  alter 
native  permission  to  the  executive  to  negotiate-, -provided  he 
thought  proper  to  adopt  that  course.  This  was  a  solemn  de 
cision  of  the  question  by  the  representatives  of  the  people, 
and  it  was  sustained  by  the  president  who  did  not  permit 
himself  to  be  influenced  by  the  threats  of  Mexico  or  the  hos 
tile  preparations  made  by  that  country.  In  fact,  Mr.  Tyler 
had  been  careful  to  guard  against  military  surprises,  for,  in 
consequence  of  the  early  rrTenaces  of  Mexico,  he  deemed  it 
his  duty,  as  a  precautionary  measure,  to  concentrate  in  the 
gulf  and  its  vicinity  a  large  portion  of  the  Home  squadron 
under  the  command  of  Commodore  Conner,  and,  at  the 
same  time  to  assemble  at  fort  Jesup  on  the  Texan  border,  as 
large  a  military  force  as  the  demands  of  the  service  at  other 
encampments  would  allow. 

Thus,  the  joint  resolution  for  annexing  Texas  to  the 
United  States,  with  its  alternative  power  to  negotiate,  came 
to  President  Tyler  and  was  approved  by  him  on  the  1st  of 
March,  1845.  On  the  fourth  of  the  same  month,  James  K. 
Polk,  who  had  been  chosen  president  of  the  United  States, 
at  the  last  election,  was  to  assume  the  reins  of  government. 
President  Tyler  believed  that  the  necessity  for  annexation 
was  immediate  and  urgent  in  consequence  of  the  reasons  he 
had  already  presented  to  congress  in  his  several  messages. 
The  only  doubt  therefore,  that  he  experienced  in  making  his 
selection,  arose  from  a  point  of  delicacy  to  his  successor. 
The  first  section  of  the  joint  resolution  authorized  the  erec 
tion  of  a  new  State  of  our  Union  out  of  the  republic  of  Texas 
under  certain  conditions  contained  in  the  second  section; 
whilst  the  third  authorized  the  president  to  negotiate  with 
that  republic  for  admission  either  by  treaty  to  be  submitted 


72  HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

to  the  senate,  or  by  articles  of  agreement  to  be  presented  to 
our  houses  of  congress,  as  the  president  might  direct. 

Under  these  circumstances  a  cabinet  council  was  sum 
moned  for  the  2nd  of  March,  and  the  point  was  resolved  by 
informing  the  president's  successor,  Mr.  Polk,  of  the  proposed 
action,  and,  if  he  desired  it,  submitting  to  his  perusal  the  de 
spatch  to  Texas.  Mr.  Calhoun,  our  secretary  of  state,  at  the 
president's  request,  accordingly  waited  upon  Mr,  Polk,  ex 
plained  to  him  Mr.  Tyler's  selection  of  the  first  and  second 
sections  of  the  joint  resolution,  and  expressed  a  readiness  to 
exhibit  the  despatch  to  Mr.  A.  J.  Donelson,  who  had  been 
appointed  charge  to  Texas.*  Mr.  Polk  courteously  declined 
expressing  an  opinion  concerning  the  executive  action,  ac 
companying  his  remark  with  some  complimentary  declara 
tion;  and,  on  that  evening,  a  bearer  of  despatches  with  the 
requisite  documents,  was  on  his  way  to  Mr.  Donelson. f 

This  is  a  brief  and  accurate  summary  of  the  history  of  an 
nexation  so  far  as  the  action  of  our  government  is  involved, 
and  as  is  necessary  for  this  narrative.  The  terms  of  annexa 
tion  which  were  offered  by  the  United  States  were  accepted 
by  Texas,  and  the  public  faith  of  both  nations  was  solemnly 
pledged  to  a  compact  of  union,  which  was  finally  consum 
mated  at  the  following  session  of  congress,  when  Texas  be 
came  a  member  of  our  confederacy. 

There  were  other  circumstances,  however,  which  properly 
induced  the  prompt  course  of  President  Tyler  in  sending  the 
joint  resolution  for  the  action  of  Texas;  but,  in  order  to  un- 

*  House  of  Rep.,  doc.  No.  2,  29th  cong.  1st  sess.  p.  125. 

f  The  election  of  the  1st  and  2nd  sections  of  the  joint  resolution  made  by 
President  Tyler  was  subsequently  approved  by  President  Polk,  as  he  de 
clares  both  in  his  negotiations  and  in  his  message  to  congress  of  the  2nd 
December,  1845.  H.  of  R.,  Doc.  No.  2,  29th  cong.  1st.  session,  p.  3. 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  73 

derstand  these  perfectly,  it  is  necessary  for  us  to  direct  our 
attention  to  the  French  and  English  negotiations  between 
that  republic  and  Mexico.  In  1840,  as  we  have  seen,  Eng 
land  preferred  separate  action  on  behalf  of  Texas,  but  she 
was  now  willing  to  unite  with  France  against  the  aggran 
dizement  of  the  United  States.  Monsieur  de  Saligny  and  the 
Hon.  Mr.  Elliott  were  the  representatives  of  these  European 
courts  in  Texas,  and  to  the  former  of  them  was  entrusted  the 
active  part  of  the  diplomacy.  Whilst  the  •  discussions  were 
going  on  in  the  United  States  Mr.  Elliott  was  never  at  rest. 
He  was  heard  of  in  Charleston,  in  New  Orleans,  in  Havana, 
in  Mexico,  and,  again,  in  Texas.  The  restlessness  of  the 
agent  denoted  the  anxiety  of  his  government  and  of  France. 
The  rejection  of  the  annexation  treaty  by  congress,  in 
1844,  had  almost  deprived  Texas  of  hope.  She  believed  it 
impossible  to  expect  a  union  with  the  United  States,  and 
was  prepared  to  receive  the  mediation  of  France  and  Eng 
land  which  would  secure  her  independence.  This  was 
surely  gratifying  to  the  emissaries  of  these  powers  and  they 
eagerly  undertook  the  task  of  obtaining  the  coveted  boon 
from  Mexico.  The  Mexican  ministry,  ever  anxious  to 
thwart  the  union  with  our  confederacy,  was  equally  pleased 
to  avert  it  by  any  diplomatic  ruse  that  would  save  the  point 
of  honor,  and  place  her  erect  before  the  world.  Besides  this, 
the  Mexicans  relied  on  a  hope  that  increasing  difficulties 
between  the  United  States  and  England  upon  the  Oregon 
boundary  question,  would  make  us  loath  to  undertake  a  war 
with  a  southern  neighbor  whilst  our  north  and  our  sea  board 
were  menaced  by  Great  Britain.  This  hope  of  a  counter- 
menace  from  England  inspirited  the  Mexican  cabinet  and 
made  it  solicitous  to  resist  us  successfully.  Herrera's  minis 
try  was  composed  of  discreet  and  patriotic  men ;  but,  in  the 

first  moments  of  their  power,  they  dared  not  oppose  popular 
10 


74  HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

prejudices.  The  revolution  which  overthrew  Santa  Anna 
was  one  of  the  few  that  sprang  from  the  popular  branches 
of  the  nation,  and  originated  neither  in  factions,  the  army, 
or  the  church,  but  derived  its  success  from  the  universal  feel 
ing  that  existed  against  the  oppressive  misrule  of  the  execu 
tive.*  Nevertheless  popular  feeling  was  against  our  country, 
and  the  cabinet  took  its  tone  from  its  patrons. 

There  can  be  little  doubt  of  the  fact,  that  the  notion  of 
probable  difficulties  between  the  United  States  and  England 
on  the  boundary  question,  was  studiously  fostered  by  emis 
saries  who  were  hostile  to  us.  Herrera's  cabinet  therefore 
hailed  with  delight  the  propositions  which  were  brought  to 
Mexico  by  Mr.  Elliott,  and  were  presented  by  the  Hon. 
Charles  Bankhead  and  Baron  Alleye  de  Cyprey,  the  British 
and  French  ministers.  These  propositions,  Sefior  Cuevas 
laid  before  the  Mexican  congress  on  the  21st  of  April,  1845. 
The  preliminary  conditions  offered  by  Texas,  under  French 
and  English  mediation,  and  transmitted  from  that  republic 
by  President  Jones,  on  the  29t]j  of  March,  were  the  following : 

1st.  That  Mexico  shall  consent  to  acknowledge  the  inde 
pendence  of  Texas. 

2nd.  That  Texas  shall  engage  and  stipulate  in  the  treaty 
not  to  annex  herself  to  or  become  subject  to  any  country 
ivhatever. 

3rd.  The  limits  and  other  conditions  shall  be  matter  of 
arrangement  by  final  treaty. 

4th.  That  Texas  should  be  willing  to  remit  disputed  points 
concerning  territory  and  other  matters  to  the  arbitration  of 

umpires. 

These  spiteful  stipulations,  evidently  aimed  against  the 

United  States,  and  bearing  the  marks  of  their  European  pa 
rentage,  suited  the  taste  of  Mexico  precisely.  Her  congress, 

*  Mexico  as  it  was  a.nd  as  it  is — p.  390,  4th  ed. 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  75 

therefore,  at  once  deemed  it  advisable  to  entertain  the  Texan 
proposals,  and  to  proceed  to  the  celebration  of  a  treaty.  But 
when  the  Baron  de  Cyprey  announced  this  assent  to  the 
president  of  Texas,  on  the  20th  of  May,  it  was  already  too 
late  for  the  success  of  European  diplomacy.  Our  congress 
had  passed  the  joint-rosolution,  our  president  had  approved 
it,  and  our  minister,  Mr.  Donelson,  was  in  Texas  preparing 
the  cabinet  to  act  favorably  upon  our  propositions.  Accord 
ingly,  when  Mr.  Elliott  returned  in  June  to  Texas  in  a  French 
corvette,  the  public  mind  was  already  manifesting  its  anxiety 
to  accede  to  our  liberal  offers,  which  were  finally  sanctioned 
by  the  Texan  convention  on  the  4th  of  July,  1845. 

Had  the  resolution  for  annexation  not  been  adopted  at  the 
preceding  session  of  congress,  the  pretensions  of  Mexico,  in 
stead  of  being  lowered,  would  have  been  raised  still  higher 
than  they  were  on  the  receipt  of  the  propositions  from  Presi 
dent  Jones.  The  mediatorial  powers  of  Mr.  Elliott  would, 
in  all  probability,  have  been  employed  in  negotiating  truces 
and  treaties  .until  the  foundation  was  laid  for  the  operation 
of  those  peaceful  means  by  which  Lord  Aberdeen  declared 
it  his  intention  to  promote  his  philanthropic  vie\vs.  "  Aban 
doned  by  the  United  States,  oppressed  by  debt,  and  wearied 
by  the  increasing  burthens  and  privations  of  war,  Texas 
would  have  been  at  the  mercy  of  Britain,  and  her  statesmen 
would  have  accepted  almost  any  terms  to  secure  indepen 
dence  and  peace."* 

*  Letter  from  Mr.  Donelson  to  Mr.  Buchanan,  2nd  June,  1845,  H.  of  R., 
doc.  No.  2,  29th  cong.  1st  sess.  p.  52.  I  do  not  discuss  the  question  of  the 
mode  of  annexation,  whether  by  treaty,  joint  resolution,  or  negotiation,  as 
that  would  require  almost  a  volume  by  itself  to  present  a  true  sketch  of 
the  debate  that  occurred  upon  it.  It  is  my  purpose  rather  to  narrate 
events  than  to  discuss  all  the  various  subordinate  questions  arising  from 
them.  "Annexation,"  is  made  one  of  the  great  motives  or  causes  for  war 
by  Mexico,  no  matter  in  what  way  it  is  effected  or  attempted.  "Mexico 


CHAPTER  VI. 


General  Almonte  demands  passports  and  leaves — Shannon  and  Rejon  and 
Cuevas — Views  of  the  Mexican  cabinet  and  people — Animosity — Revolt 
in  Mexico — Political  condition  of  Mexico — Her  right  of  reconquering 
Texas — Mr.  Buchanan  despatches  Mr.  Slidell  as  envoy — rejection  of  all 
accommodation  between  us — The  reason  why  Mexico  refused  to  nego 
tiate,  after  promising  to  receive  a  commissioner  from  the  United  States — 
Subterfuges — 111  feeling  in  Mexico  on  the  Texas  question — Herera  over 
thrown  by  Paredes— Paredes  and  the  monarchical  party — Unpopularity 
of  his  scheme — Miserable  state  of  Mexican  affairs — Review  of  the  Texas 
question. 

IN  March,  1845,  as  soon  as  congress  passed  the  joint-reso 
lution,  Gen.  Almonte  demanded  his  passports  and  departed. 
A  correspondence  which  took  place  in  Mexico  oetween  Mr. 
Shannon,  our  envoy,  and  Sefior  Rejon,  the  minister  of  fo 
reign  affairs,  relative  to  the  projected  union  resulted  fruit 
lessly;  and,  on  the  2d  of  April,  Sefior  Cuevas,  who  had  suc 
ceeded  Rejon  in  office,  announced  to  our  legation  that  his 
government  could  neither  continue  diplomatic  intercourse 
with  ours,  nor  maintain  friendship  with  a  republic  that  vio 
lated  her  obligations  and  usurped  a  portion  of  Mexican  ter 
ritory.  He  declared,  moreover,  that  the  relations  between 
the  two  countries  could  not  be  re-established  before  a  com 
plete  reparation  of  that  injury  should  be  made.* 

would  never  agree  to  annexation;" — said  Sefior  Cuevas,  the  Mexican  secre 
tary  of  foreign  affairs,  in  April,  1845. — Mexico  as  it  was  and  as  it  is.    p. 
391,  4th  ed. 
*  Mexico  as  it  was  and  as  it  is — see  original  letter  in  4th  ed.  p.  387- 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  77 

This  violent  and  denunciatory  language,  together  with  the 
hint  to  our  minister  to  depart,  was  of  course  not  calculated 
to  allay  ill-feeling  in  either  country.  The  Mexican  congress 
was  not  less  bitter  in  its  animadversions,  thereby  spreading 
the  animosity  among  the  people.  It  promptly  seconded  the 
wishes  of  the  cabinet,  and  offered  two  projects,  both  of  which 
asserted  the  unalienated  rights  of  Mexico  over  Texas,  and 
the  national  resolve  to  maintain  them  by  force. 

Meantime,  however,  domestic  discontent  was  again  brew 
ing.  A  certain  Gen.  Rangel  attempted  to  revolutionize  the 
government,  and  is  said  to  have  been  favored  by  the  parti- 
zans  of  the  late  administration.  The  insurgents  seized  the 
palace,  capturing  the  president  and  three  of  his  ministers  of 
state ;  but  they  were  speedily  overpowered  and  the  insurrec 
tion  suppressed.  In  June  and  July  of  this  year  all  the 
Mexican  papers  were  loud  in  their  clamors  for  vengeance. 
The  minister  of  war,  Garcia  Conde,  wrote  despatch  after 
despatch ;  and,  with  the  usual  spirit  of  national  gasconade, 
denounced  our  "  perfidy,"  and  continually  alluded  to  "  the 
war  which  Mexico  waged  against  the  United  States,"  in 
consequence  of  our  "  treachery."  On  the  16th  of  the  latter 
month,  he  despatched  to  the  minister  of  foreign  relations  and 
justice  a  note  detailing  a  plan  for  covering  the  national  fron 
tiers,  and  asserted  that  Mexico  would  maintain  her  rights  by 
force,  or  fall  in  the  struggle.  "  She  will  not  consent,"  says 
he,  "  to  give  up  one  half  of  her  territory  from  the  base  fear 
of  losing  the  other!" 

Patriotic  and  stirring  as  are  these  declarations,  they  cannot 
but  be  regarded  otherwise  than  as  the  most  inflated  bombast 
when  we  recollect  that  they  were  made  in  defiance  of  the 
United  States,  and  after  a  failure  for  seven  years  to  recon 
quer  even  Texas,  feeble  as  she  was.  What  just  hope  could 
distracted  Mexico  reasonably  entertain  of  ultimate  victory? 


78  HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

Several  years  before  this  period,  her  discreet  statesmen  and 
reflecting  citizens  privately  acknowledged  that  Texas  was 
lost  forever.  Pecuniary  embarrassments,  political  misrule, 
and  repeated  revolutions  had  still  more  impaired  her  national 
strength,  and  yet,  an  obstinacy  as  inveterate  as  it  was  silly, 
forced  her  to  make  declarations  of  intended  hostilities  which 
only  served  to  kindle  and  spread  the  excitement  among  the 
masses. 

It  is  just  that  we  should  concede  to  national  pride  and 
honor  all  they  reasonably  demand  of  respect,  yet  I  have 
greatly  misunderstood  this  spirit  of  our  century,  if  it  does 
not  require  nations  to  be  as  reasonable  in  their  quarrels  as 
individuals.  Empires,  kingdoms,  states,  republics,  and  men, 
are  equally  amenable  to  the  great  tribunal  of  the  world's 
common  sense;  and  all  are  obliged,  if  they  consult  their  in 
terests,  to  yield  to  the  force  of  circumstances  they  cannot 
control.  What  then  becomes  of  the  mere  abstract  and  vision 
ary  "  right  of  reconquest"  which  Mexico  asserted,  even  if 
she  really  possessed  it  after  the  central  usurpation,  and  de 
struction  of  the  federal  system  in  1824?  What  hope  was 
there  in  a  war  with  the  United  States,  after  a  failure  in  that 
with  Texas  ?  It  is  true  that  Mexico  had  the  power  to  annoy 
us,  and  procrastinate  her  fate;  she  might  oppose  dnd  resist; 
she  might  develope  all  the  evil  passions  of  her  people  and  let 
them  loose  on  our  armies  in  irregular  warfare ;  but  these,  after 
all  were  nothing  more  than  spiteful  manifestations  of  impotent 
malice, 'disgraceful  to  the  nation  that  encouraged  them.  The 
cause  of  genuine  humanity,  which,  I  believe,  in  our  age, 
truly  seeks  for  peace,  demanded  the  pacification  of  Texas. 
The  cruelty  with  which  the  war  was  waged,  and  the  brutal 
treatment  received  by  some  of  the  prisoners  of  the  Santa  Fe 
expedition  in  1841  and  1842,  convince  us  that  a  strong 
power  should  have  imposed  peace  on  Mexico.  National 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  79 

propriety  demanded  it;  for  how  long  was  the  "right  of  recon- 
quest"  to  continue?  England,  the  proudest  nation  on  earth, 
acknowledged  the  independence  of  the  United  States  after  a 
seven  years  war.  The  great  powers  of  Europe  interfered  to 
protect  oppressed  Greece.  England  has  several  times  inter 
posed  in  the  affairs  of  Spain  and  Portugal ;  and  our  geo 
graphical  as  well  as  political  affinity  to  Texas  clearly  indi 
cated  that  it  was  our  national  interest  to  establish  a  firm  and 
friendly  government  on  our  border. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  when  General  Herrera  was,  al 
most  unanimously,  elected  president  in  August,  1845,  he  saw 
things  in  this  light,  and  was  prudently  disposed  to  bend  to 
inevitable  fate.  Notwithstanding  the  warlike  despatches, 
speeches,  and  proclamations  of  the  Mexicans  in  the  earlier 
part  of  the  year,  our  secretary  of  state  seems  to  have  suffi 
ciently  understood  their  gasconading  habits,  to  disregard  these 
inflated  productions.  He  therefore  authorized  Mr.  Black, 
who  remained  in  Mexico  as  consul,  upon  Mr.  Shannon's 
withdrawal,  to  propose  that  we  should  send  an  envoy  with 
full  powers  to  adjust  all  the  questions  in  dispute  between  the 
two  countries.  Mexico,  notwithstanding  her  open  bravado, 
secretly  assented  to  our  proposal,  declaring  that  she  would 
receive  "  the  commissioner  of  the  United  States  who  might 
come  to  the  capital  with  full  powers  to  settle  the  present  dis 
pute  in  a  peaceful,  reasonable  and  honorable  manner." 

Accordingly,  Mr.  Slidell  was  hastily  despatched  so  as  to 
be  sure  of  meeting  the  same  persons  in  power  with  whom 
the  arrangement  had  been  made ;  for  in  Mexico,  the  delay 
of  even  a  day  may  sometimes  change  a  government,  and 
create  new  or  unwilling  negotiators.  Nevertheless  when 
our  minister  presented  himself  in  the  capital  early  in  Decem 
ber,  having  travelled  rapidly  but  unostentatiously,  so  as  to 


80  HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

avoid  exciting  ill  feeling  among  the  Mexicans  as  to  the  pur 
poses  of  his  mission,  he  found  the  secretary  unprepared  to  re 
ceive  him.  It  was  objected  that  Mr.  SlidelPs  commission 
had  not  been  confirmed  by  the  senate  of  the  United  States 
and  that  the  president  had  no  constitutional  right  to  send 
him ;  that  Mexico  agreed  to  receive  a  commissioner  to  settle 
the  Texas  dispute,  and  not  a  resident  envoy;  that  the  re 
ception  of  such  an  envoy  would  admit  the  minister  on  the 
footing  of  a  friendly  mission  during  a  period  of  concord  be 
tween  nations,  which  would  not  be  diplomatically  proper 
so  long  as  our  amity  was  in  the  least  interrupted; — and, 
finally,  that  the  government  had  not  expected  a  commissioner 
until  after  the  session  of  congress  began  in  January,  1846. 

There  may  be  some  force  in  technical  diplomacy,  between 
the  mission  as  agreed  on  by  Messieurs  Black  and  Pefia,  and 
the  one  despatched  by  Mr.  Buchanan,  for  the  letter  of  cre 
dence  declares  that  Mr.  Slidell  is  "  to  reside  near  the  gov 
ernment  of  the  Mexican  republic  in  the  quality  of  envoy  ex 
traordinary  and  minister  plenipotentiary,  and  that  he  is  well 
informed  of  the  president's  desire  to  restore,  cultivate,  and 
strengthen  friendship  and  good  correspondence  between  us." 
A  point  of  extreme  etiquette  raised  at  such  a  moment,  when 
both  parties  were  confessedly  anxious  for  peace,  naturally 
excites  some  inquiry  as  to  its  probable  origin.  Accordingly 
we  find  that  it  was  a  mere  subterfuge,  urged  by  a  tottering 
administration  to  avert  its  ruin.  The  violence  of  the  cabinet 
against  annexation  had  done  its  work  among  the  people. 
When  Herrera  and  Pefia  accepted,  in  October,  our  proposal 
to  treat,  they  hoped  the  popular  elections,  as  well  as  judi 
cious  overtures  to  the  departments  and  citizens,  would  so 
modify  national  opinion  as  to  permit  their  independent  and 
liberal  action.  But  such  forbearance  could  scarcely  be  ex 
pected  from  the  watchfulness  of  Mexican  intriguers.  Herrera 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  81 

was  a  federalist,  but  his  failure  to  proclaim  the  federal  sys 
tem,  and  to  throw  himself  on  that  party  as  soon  as  he  at 
tained  power,  alienated  a  large  portion  of  it  and  made  the 
rest  but  feeble  supporters.  The  church  and  the  centralists 
soon  coalesced  in  hostility  to  his  government;  and,  although 
his  measures  were  moderate,  and  all  his  efforts  designed  to 
correct  abuses,  yet  every  political  symptom  denoted  his  speedy 
fall.  Of  all  the  popular  clamors,  probably  none  was  louder 
in  the  mob  and  the  army,  than  that  which  arose  in  conse 
quence  of  his  effort  to  negotiate  a  peace  with  our  Union. 
General  Paredes  took  advantage  of  this  unpopularity,  and,  at 
the  head  of  five  thousand  of  the  soldiery,  pronounced  against 
the  government  of  the  president. 

It  will  be  perceived  from  this  sketch  how  completely  this 
Texas  question  and  the  war  with  our  country  have  been 
made  electioneering  and  revolutionary  elements  in  Mexico: 
not,  however,  with  patriotic  hopes,  or  reasonable  expectations 
of  reconquest,  but  with  the  contemptible  anxiety  of  usurping 
a  temporary  power  which,  for  a  while,  enabled  the  aspirant 
to  govern  the  country  without  the  least  prospect  of  settling 
the  difficulty  with  us  or  of  regaining  Texas.* 

This  revolution  commenced  with  the  army  of  reserve  sta 
tioned  at  San  Luis  Potosi,  and  was  seconded  by  the  military 
men  generally.  On  the  15th  of  December,  1845,  Paredes 
issued  a  bombastic  proclamation!  from  his  head-quarters; 
and,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  month  the  revolutionary  forces 
reached  the  capital,  when  a  portion  of  the  garrison  pro 
nounced  in  favor  of  the  insurgent  chief.  This  induced  an 
early  accommodation  between  the  parties,  and  finished  the 
outbreak  without  bloodshed.  Yet  Paredes,  having  over- 

*  See  Mexico  as  it  was  and  is,  4th  ed.  p.  396— and  SlidelPs  correspon 
dence  with  our  government.     Senate  doc.  No.  337,  29th  cong.  1st  sess. 
J  See  Mexico  as  it  was  and  as  it  is,  p.  400. 
11 


82  HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR    BETWEEN 

thrown  Herrera, partly  in  consequence  of  his  friendly  dispo 
sition  for  peace  with  us,  could  not  now  attempt  negotiations 
successfully.  Mr.  Slidell  renewed  his  offers  to  the  cabinet, 
but  was  repulsed  and  left  the  country.  The  lame  reliance 
of  Mexico  upon  bombastic  proclamations  was  again  adopted. 
Yet  the  people  were  discontented  with  Paredes  who  soon 
began  to  manifest  the  despotic  tendency  of  his  nature  and 
education.  The  military  life  of  this  chieftain  naturally  in 
clined  him  towards  centralism,  but  he  was  altogether  unfit 
either  by  character  or  habits  for  civil  authority.  As  soon  as 
he  assumed  the  reins  of  government,  a  party  which  had  long 
drooped  began  again  to  lift  its  head.  The  monarchists,  led 
by  the  Archbishop  Manuel  Posada  y  Gardufio,  and  the  wily 
Don  Lucas  Alaman,  soon  got  possession  of  the  insurgent 
general.  They  were  joined  by  a  large  portion  of  the  higher 
clergy,  some  influential  men  of  fortune,  a  few  soldiers,  and 
a  number  of  silly  citizens,  who  promised  themselves  a  futu 
rity  of  progress  and  felicity  by  calling  to  the  Mexican  throne 
a  monarch  from  beyond  the  sea.  This  party  of  royalists 
was  strengthened  by  dissensions  at  home,  and  by  the  ex 
pected  attack  from  the  United  States.  Many  reflecting  men 
cherished  no  hope  of  national  progress  so  long  as  the  turbu 
lent  army  was  unrestrained  by  paramount  authority.  They 
desired  at  once  to  crush  freedom  and  domestic  despotism  by 
a  foreign  prince  supported  by  European  soldiery,  whilst  they 
believed  that  the  continental  sovereigns  would  greedily  seize 
the  opportunity  of  throwing  their  forces  into  America  so  as 
to  check  the  aggressive  ambition  of  the  United  States.*  As 
soon  as  this  scheme  of  Paredes  was  disclosed,  his  unpopu 
larity  increased.  His  intemperate  habits  were  well  Jmown 
and  destroyed  confidence  in  his  judgment.  The  financial 

*  Tribute  a  la  verdad,  Vera  Cruz,  p.  3. 


- 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  83 

condition  of  the  country  was  exceedingly  embarrassed,  and 
foreigners,  who  were  the  usual  bankers  of  the  government, 
refused  loans  on  any  terms.  Payment  was  denied  by  the. 
treasury  to  all  employed  in  the  civil  departments,  while  mo 
ney  was  disbursed  to  none  but  the  army.  The  freedom  of 
the  press  moreover  was  suspended;  and,  to  crown  the  na 
tional  difficulties^;  was  at  this  very  moment  that  Mexico 
dreamed  of  overthrowing  the  republic  at  home  and  estab 
lishing  a  monarchy  in  its  stead,  whilst  it  simultaneously  en 
countered  our  armies  abroad  in  order  to  reconquer  Texas ! 
With  such  deplorable  fatuity  was  Mexico  misruled,  and  en 
tangled  in  a  double  war  upon  the  rights  of  her  own  people 
and  against  the  United  States.  It  was  unfortunate  that  she 
fell  at  this  crisis  into  the  hands  of  a  despot  and  drunkard, 
whose  mind,  perplexed  between  ambition  and  intemperance, 
gave  a  permanent  direction  to  that  false  public  sentiment, 
which  Herrera  had  been  anxious  to  convert  into  one  of  peace 
and  good  will  towards  the  United  States. 

I  have  thus  succinctly  narrated  the  events  that  led  to  the 
war  between  the  United  States  and  Mexico.  The  annexa 
tion  of  Texas,  without  the  previous  assent  of  Mexico,  may 
have  annoyed  that  government.  It  was  mortifying  to  patri 
otic  pride,  and  we  should  laud  the  republic  for  manifesting  a 
proper  sensibility.  But  true  national  pride  is  always  capable 
of  manly  and  dignified  opposition.  It  does  not  expend  itself 
in  bravado,  petulence  or  querulousness.  It  does  not  assail 
by  threats,  but  by  deeds;  and  never  provokes  an  attack  until 
it  is  prepared  to  return  the  blow  with  earnest  force.  It  is 
silent  as  the  storm  until  it  bursts  forth  in  overwhelming  wrath. 
All  other  kinds  of  resistance  are  nothing  but  miserable  exhi 
bitions  of  mortified  vanity,  and  invoke  the  world's  contempt 
instead  of  respectful  compassion. 

Our  government,  from  the  beginning,  desired  and  at- 


84  HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

tempted  to  allay  excitement,  whilst  that  of  Mexico,  revolu 
tionary,  disorganized  and  impotent  as  it  was  at  home,  and  as 
it  subsequently  proved  itself  to  be  in  the  field  of  battle,  did 
all  it  could  to  foment  animosity  between  the  two  countries. 
This  sturdy  resistance  of  Mexico  did  not  arise  from  prudence, 
patriotism  or  courage,  but  from  intestine  fa^ons,  exasperated 
by  rival  usurpers.  Our  efforts  to  make  peace  and  establish  a 
boundary  upon  the  most  liberal  principles  were  rejected  with 
disdain/*  The  authorities,  basing  their  refusal  upon  a  fri 
volous  subterfuge  of  diplomatic  etiquette,  would  not  even 
hear  our  proposals,  or  receive  our  minister.  Our  presidents 
were  disposed  to  concede  every  thing  reasonable  in  negotia 
tion  that  could  have  saved  the  honor  of  Mexico  and  placed 
our  future  relations  on  the  salutary  foundation  of  alliance,  f 
Instead  of  meeting  us  with  the  pacific  and  compromising 
temper  of  our  age,  her  demagogue  chieftains  stimulated  the 
passion  and  vanity  of  the  mob,  until  the  stormy  natures  of 
an  ignorant  people  became  so  completely  excited  that  they 
were  unable  to  control  the  evil  spirit  raised  by  their  wicked 
incantations. 

Blundering  onward  and  blinded  by  passion,  this  unfortu 
nate  nation  reminds  us  of  that  passage  in  the  JEnead  wherein 
the  sightless  giant  is  described  :  — 

"  Summo  quum  monte  videmus 
Ipsum  inter  pecudes  vasta  se  mole  moventem 
Pastorem  Polypheum,  et  littera  nota  petentem; 
Monstrum  horrendum,  informe,  ing-ens,  cui  lumen  ademptum  ! 

,  B.  3,  v.  655. 


*  See  Wheaton's  Elements  of  international  law.  ed.  of  1836,  part  2d 
chap.  1,  pp.  88,  89,  90,  91.  On  the  right  of  interference  of  governments 
for  the  pacification  of  belligerent  nations. 

t  Mr.  Slidell  was  fully  empowered  to  negotiate  on  liberal  terms. 


BOOK    SECOND: 


MILITARY   OPERATIONS   IN  TEXAS   AND   ON 


THE   RIO   GRANDE. 


BOOK    II. 

MILITARY  OPERATIONS  IN  TEXAS  AND  ON  THE 
RIO  GRANDE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Boundary  of  Texas  defined  by  Almonte — Description  of  Texas — Rivers  of 
Texas — Army  of  observation — General  Taylor — Army  of  occupation — 
How  formed — Difficulty  of  landing  in  Texas — Aransas  bay — Army  lands 
at  St.  Joseph's  island — Kinney's  rancho — Corpus  Christi — State  of  the 
army  during  the  winter — sufferings  of  the  troops — Alarms  of  war — Gen 
eral  Gaines's  views — Necessity  of  ample  preparation — our  first  aggres- 


THE  scene  of  our  observation  is  now  about  to  change  from 
the  cabinet  to  the  field.  The  theatre  of  war  properly  attracts 
our  attention,  and  the  spot  of  earth  which  was  the  chief  cause 
of  dispute  between  Mexico  and  the  United  States,  and  where 
our  armies  assembled,  justly  demands  our  first  notice. 

Texas,  until  she  attained  the  rank  of  an  independent  State, 
seems  to  have  been  almost  an  unknown  country  even  to  the 
Mexicans.  This  was  natural  for  a  people  who  are  not  es 
sentially  agriculturists,  but  pass  their  lives  as  herdsmen, 
miners,  or  merchants,  and  whose  central  government  is  far 
removed  from  its  outposts. 

In  the  year  1834,  General  Almonte  was  deputed  by  the 
Mexican  authorities  to  visit  this  northern  province,  and  pre 
pare  a  statistical  report  upon  its  extent  and  character.  Ac 
cording  to  this  valuable  document,  Texas  proper  lies  between 


88  HISTORY    OF   THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

28°  and  35°  of  north  latitude,  and  17°  and  25°  of  longitude, 
west  from  Washington.  It  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  the 
territory  of  Arkansas;  east  by  Louisiana;  south  by  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico  and  State  of  Tamaulipas;  and  west  by  Coahuila, 
Chihuahua,  and  New  Mexico.  Almonte  was  informed,  by 
the  State  government  of  Coahuila  and  Texas,  that  instead 
of  the  Rio  de  las  Nueces  forming  the  boundary  between 
Coahuila  and  Texas,  as  the  map  denoted,  the  true  limit 
commenced  at  the  embouchure  of  the  Rio  Aransaso  which  it 
followed  to  its  source,  whence  it  continued  by  a  direct  line 
until  it  reached  the  junction  of  the  Medina  with  the  San 
Antonio,  and  thence  proceeded  along  the  eastern  bank  of  the 
Medina  to  its  source,  terminating,  finally,  on  the  borders  of 
Chihuahua.  The  territory  comprised  within  these  limits  is 
estimated  at  near  two  hundred  thousand  square  miles — a  sur 
face  almost  as  extensive  as  that  of  France.*  But,  since 
Texas  receded  from  the  Mexican  central  government,  these 
confines  have  been  changed.  By  an  act  of  her  congress,  in 
in  December,  1836,  the  boundary  was  declared  to  begin  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Rio  Grande,  and  thence  to  run  up  the 
principal  stream  of  the  said  river  to  its  source;  thence  due 
north  to  the  42°  of  latitude,  and  thence,  along  the  boundary 
as  defined  in  the  treaty  between  the  United  States  and  Spain, 
to  the  beginning,  f 

The  great  body  of  the  territory  of  Mexico  is  rich  in  upland 
vallies,  extensive  plains,  noble  mountains,  fertile  soil,  beau 
tiful  groves,  and  rich  mines,  but  it  is  almost  entirely  deprived 
of  rivers,  whilst  Texas  is  singularly  favored  in  this  respect. 
On  the  east,  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  affords  her  an  extensive  sea 
coast  indented  by  the  mouths  of  the  Sabine  river  and  lake, 

*  Almonte's  report.    Kennedy's  Texas,  chap.  1. 
t  Senate  doc.  341,  28th  cong.  1st  sess.  p.  56. 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  89 

the  Rio  Naches,  the  Rio  Trinidad,  the  Rio  San  Jacinto,  Gal- 
veston  bay,  the  Rio  Brazos,  Matagorda  bay,  the  Rio  Colo 
rado,  the  Rios  San  Antonio  and  Guadelupe,  Aransaso  bay 
and  the  Rio  Grande,  besides  numerous  smaller  streams  that 
drain  her  soil  and  almost  cover  it  with  an  interlacing  net-work 
of  water. 

Texas  presents  to  the  traveller  three  distinct  natural  re 
gions.  Along  the  shores  of  the  gulf  from  the  Sabine  to  the 
Rio  Grande,  a  flat  country  extends  from  thirty  to  one  hun 
dred  miles  in  the  interior,  widening  towards  its  centre  on 
the  Colorado,  arid  gradually  diminishing  towards  the  Nueces. 
The  sandy  wastes  and  lagunes  of  the  coast  give  place,  at 
some  distance  in  the  interior,  to  a  rich  alluvial  country,  di 
versified  by  skirts  of  timber,  insulated  groves,  and  open  prai 
ries.  A  large  portion  of  this  part  of  Texas  is  described  as 
being  singularly  free  from  those  large  collections  of  stagnant 
water,  which,  combined  with  a  burning  sun  and  prolific 
vegetation,  create  malaria  in  our  southern  States. 

Westward  of  this  level  skirt,  begins  the  rolling  region. 
The  land  gradually  swells  in  gentle  undulations,  "covered 
with  fertile  prairies  and  valuable  woodlands,  enriched  with 
springs  and  rivulets."  Farther  westward  still,  these  beautiful 
hills  tower  up  into  the  steeps  of  the  Sierra  Madre,  that  great 
chain  of  gigantic  mountains,  which,  broken  at  the  junction 
of  the  Rio  Grande  with  the  Puerco,  takes  thence  a  north 
easterly  course,  and  enters  Texas  near  the  source  of  the 
Nueces.  These  elevations  are  of  the  third  and  fourth  mag 
nitude,  and  abound  with  forests  of  pine,  oak,  cedar,  and  an 
extraordinary  variety  of  shrubbery.  Wide  vallies  of  alluvial 
soil,  commonly  susceptible  of  irrigation  from  copious  streams 
in  the  highlands,  wind  through  the  recesses  of  these  moun 
tains  and  afford  a  delightful  region  for  the  purposes  of  agri 
culture.  The  table  lands  beyond  these  ranges  have  been  but 
12  ' 


90  HISTORY    OF   THE    WAR    BETWEEN 

little  explored,  and  still  less  is  known  of  the  northern  region 
extending  to  the  42°  of  north  latitude,  as  well  as  of  that 
portion  lying  between  the  Nueces  and  the  Rio  Grande.  But 
such,  in  brief,  is  Texas  from  the  gulf  to  the  mountains; — a 
country  adapted  alike  to  the  planter,  the  grazier  and  the 
farmer,  while  it  offers  to  commerce  a  wide  extent  of  sea 
coast  whose  harbors  may  be  made  perfectly  secure  by  the 
skill  of  modem  science.* 

I  have  already  stated  that  in  1844  President  Tyler  sta 
tioned  an  army  of  observation  under  General  Taylor,  at  fort 
Jesup,  as  soon  as  he  negotiated  the  annexation  treaty,  f 
This  corps,  but  poorly  sheltered  from  the  weather,  and  in  an 
inhospitable  climate,  was,  for  a  long  time,  left  inactive  on  the 
banks  of  the  Sabine.  In  midsummer  of  1845,  after  the 
joint  resolution  was  passed,  and  when  our  difficulties  with 
Mexico  began  to  thicken,  it  was  at  length  ordered  to  advance, 
under  the  same  commander,  towards  the  southern  frontier  of 
Texas.  The  army  then  consisted  of  but  two  regiments  of 
infantry,  one  of  dragoons,  and  a  single  company  of  artillery, 
in  all  about,  fifteen  hundred  efficient  men.  As  the  climate 
was  known  to  the  sickly,  the  war  department  despatched 
only  such  an  unacclimated  force  as  was  deemed  absolutely 
necessary  to  protect  a  tropical  region  in  the  month  of  July, 
awaiting  the  colder  months  before  its  numbers  were  increased. 
This  body  was  called  the  army  of  occupation,  whose  ap 
pointments  seem  to  have  been  extremely  imperfect.  "  The 
dragoon  regiment  had  just  been  formed  from  a  rifle  corps; 
half  of  its  men  were  raw,  undisciplined  recruits,  and  many 
of  them  unable  to  ride,  while  their  recently  purchased  horses 
were  small,  weak  and  undrilled.  The  infantry  regiments 

*  Kennedy's  Texas,  chap.  1. 

t  Senate  doc.  No.  341,  28th  cong.  1st  sess.  p.  76. 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  91 

were  enfeebled  by  their  long  exposure,  in  miserable  tents,  to 
the  withering  heats  and  drenching  rains  of  a  low  southern 
latitude ;  and  the  artillerists  were  without  their  guns.  To 
wards  the  end  of  June,  1845,  a  company  of  the  last  men 
tioned  arm  of  the  service,  equipped  as  infantry,  at  fort  Moul- 
trie,  was  ordered  to  New  Orleans.  This  body,  armed  only 
with  muskets,  sailed  from  Charleston  on  the  26th  of  the 
month,  and  on  its  arrival  in  Louisiana  on  the  19th  of  July, 
found  that  it  was  destined  for  service  in  Texas.  The  in 
structions  to  the  commanding  officer  informed  him  that  his 
company  was  to  be  mounted  and  equipped  as  flying  artillery 
for  the  campaign  under  Taylor;  that  horses  would  be  sent 
him  and  a  battery  shipped  from  New  York,  upon  the  arrival 
of  which  he  was  to  join  his  general  at  the  mouth  of  the  Sa- 
bine."*  Fortunately  for  these  troops  they  encountered  Gen 
eral  Taylor  in  New  Orleans,  though  they  were  obliged  to 
depart  without  their  ordnance,  which  did  not  reach  them  for 
two  months  afterwards,  while  their  horses  were  even  still 
longer  in  attaining  their  destination. 

The  war  in  Texas,  and  the  unsettled  state  of  that  country, 
had  prevented  the  preparation  of  an  accurate  map,  or  indeed, 
even  of  a  survey  of  the  coasts  or  interior.  It  was  difficult, 
therefore,  to  find  any  one  in  New  Orleans  acquainted  with 
the  harbors  and  rivers  of  the  new  State,  or  who  was  willing 
to  incur  the  responsibility  of  directing  the  army's  steps.  The 
topographical  bureau  at  Washington  had,  with  infinite  pains 
and  ingenuity,  constructed  a  map  of  the  country  from  the 
scant  materials  in  its  possession ;  but  this  chart  has  since  been 
proved  to  be  almost  entirely  useless  as  a  guide. 

However,  after  considerable  difficulty,  General  Taylor 
procured  a  pilot  for  large  wages,  who  professed  a  thorough 

*  An  account  of  the  army  of  observation  and  occupation,  written  by  one 
of  its  officers,  in  the  Southern  Quarterly  Review  for  April,  1846. 


92  HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

acquaintance  with  the  Texan  waters,  and  a  particular  know 
ledge  of  his  destination  at  Aransas  bay.  This  individual 
was  immediately  put  in  charge  of  one  of  the  transports  loaded 
with  troops,  and  under  his  lead,  the  commander  in  chief 
sailed  from  New  Orleans  with  three  ships  and  two  steamers 
in  search  of  the  port  of  his  disbarkation.  The  blundering 
pilot  grounded  his  vessel  among  the  breakers  where  it  would 
inevitably  have  been  wrecked,  had  it  not  been  extricated  by 
timely  assistance,  while  the  captain  of  another  transport 
coasted  the  low  shores  of  the  gulf  for  several  days,  in  sight 
of  land,  seeking  an  inlet,  and  when  his  ship  was  at  length 
anchored  off  St.  Joseph's,  he  asserted  that  it  was  the  island 
of  Espiritu  Santo.* 

This  bay  of  Aransas  was  perhaps  one  of  the  most  unsuit 
able  for  the  disbarkation  of  troops  on  the  coast  of  Texas,  and 
was  selected  in  utter  ignorance  of  the  country.  Indeed  we 
seem  to  have  committed  two  great  and  often  fatal  errors  in 
warfare  when  we  contemplated  hostilities  with  Mexico — first, 
in  despising  our  foe ;  and  secondly,  in  failing  to  inform  our 
selves  of  his  country's  geography. 

Aransas  bay  lies  between  the  south  end  of  St.  Joseph's 
and  the  northern  point  of  Mustang  island,  quite  close  to  the 
latter,  and  almost  at  right  angles  with  the  coast.  It  has  a 
narrow  but  shifting  sand  bar  at  its  entrance,  upon  which  the 
depth  of  water  varies  according  to  the  action  of  the  winds. 
The  bay  is  about  twenty-five  miles  in  length  and  twelve  in 
width,  but  is  obstructed  by  a  shoal  and  a  range  of  islands  that 
traverse  it.f 

On  the  third  of  August  our  whole  army  had  landed  on  St. 
Joseph's  island,  about  thirty  miles  from  the  Rio  Nueces, 
across  which  it  was  to  pass  to  its  proposed  encampment  on 

*  S.  Q.  Review,  ut  antea,  p.  442.     (April,  1846.) 
f  Kennedy's  Texas,  chap.  2d. 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  9,5 

Corpus  Christi  bay,  near  a  smuggling  village  known  as 
Kinney's  rancho.  As  Corpus  Christi  and  Aransas  bays  are 
connected  by  a  shallow  and  winding  channel,  it  was  at  once 
discovered  that  steamers  were  altogether  inadequate  for  the 
transportation  of  troops  from  the  islets  to  the  mainland;  and 
our  forces  would  have  remained  where  they  disembarked 
had  not  a  few  skiffs  of  light  draft,  together  with  some  sail 
and  row  boats,  been  obtained  in  the  neighborhood  at  consid 
erable  expense.  In  these  frail  vessels  a  detachment  of  forty 
men,  armed  only  with  muskets,  crossed  the  Nueces,  and 
landed  on  the  stormy  coast  as  pioneers  in  a  country  asserted 
to  be  Mexican.  Had  the  authorities  of  that  republic  been 
prepared  to  resist  our  landing,  a  few  field  pieces  might  have 
prevented  the  alleged  invasion,  as  our  general  was  unable  to 
protect  the  disembarkation  of  his  troops  by  cannon.  In  ad 
dition  to  these  mistakes,  the  2d  regiment  of  dragoons  was 
not  despatched  from  fort  Jesup  in  time  to  co-operate  with 
our  forces  when  they  first  landed  at  Corpus  Christi;  and,  as 
the  artillery  had  not  yet  been  forwarded  from  our  arsenals, 
the  campaign  may  be  said  to  have  commenced  with  infan 
try  alone.  This  was  a  novelty  in  military  science,  and  in 
dicated  an  ignorance  of  war,  an  unpardonable  imprudence, 
or  a  conviction  that  the  whole  drama  was  got  up  only  to  in 
timidate  an  enemy  we  despised. 

It  is  impossible  to  narrate  every  circumstance  of  interest 
that  occurred  during  the  encampment  of  our  forces  west  of 
the  Neuces,  a  position  taken  by  General  Taylor  with  the  con 
currence  of  the  war  department.  But  a  history  of  this  war 
would  be  incomplete  were  not  the  position  as  well  as  the 
condition  of  our  army  accurately  stated.  Our  government, 
relying  probably  on  the  acknowledged  feebleness  of  Mexico, 
and  on  the  fact  that  she  had  not  yet  declared  war,  imagined 


94  HISTORY    OF   THE    WAR    BETWEEN 

that  the  mere  presence  of  American  troops  would  pacify  Tex 
as  or  prevent  hostilities.  This  was  an  unfortunate  mistake, 
especially  in  the  unsettled  condition  of  things ;  for  in  May, 
1845,  Mr.  Donelson,  our  charge  to  Texas,  had  warned  the 
government  to  be  prepared  for  an  immediate  blow  upon  Mex 
ico,  if  she  should  unfortunately  declare  war  against  us,  and 
that  declaration  might  have  been  expected  at  any  moment. 
The  details  of  the  organization  of  our  forces  seem,  never 
theless,  to  have  been  sadly  neglected.  Sailing  vessels,  alone, 
were  relied  on  to  convey  despatches  to  General  Taylor ;  and, 
from  the  wreck  of  one  of  them,  a  drummer  boy,  strolling 
along  the  beach,  on  the  15th  of  August,  rescued  a  valuable 
package  containing  the  proclamation  of  the  Mexican  govern 
ment  in  which  the  people  were  summoned  to  unite  in  an 
army  for  national  preservation,  under  the  sonorous  title  of 
"  Defenders  of  independence  and  the  laws."  *  The  day 
after  this  despatch  was  received,  the  smugglers  along  the 
coast  reported  that  Arista  was  rapidly  advancing  to  attack  us 
with  three  thousand  choice  troops.  Without  artillery  to  de 
fend  the  camp,  or  dragoons  to  act  as  scouts,  our  general  could 
do  nothing  but  order  entrenchments  to  be  thrown  up.  En 
trenching  tools,  however,  had  not  been  furnished;  and,  with 
only  a  few  old  and  broken  spades  the  troops  labored  briskly, 
and  erected,  in  a  few  days,  a  solid  field-work  a  few  yards 
from  the  beach,  protected  in  the  rear  by  the  bay.  But  the 
battery  had  not  yet  arrived,  nor  was  Gen.  Taylor  able  to  ob 
tain  from  the  sloop  of  war  St.  Mary's,  which  was  on  the  sta 
tion,  any  guns  of  a  suitable  calibre.  Fortunately,  however, 
he  procured  three  pieces,  indifferently  equipped,  and  a  small 
supply  of  ammunition,  from  the  citizens  of  Corpus  Christi. 
These  guns  added  materially  to  the  strength  of  our  position 

*  Niles'  Reg.  vol.  68,  p.  305. 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  95 


in  case  we  were  attacked,  but  were  entirely  unsuitable  for 
field  service.* 

The  proclamation  to  which  we  have  alluded,  and  the  ru 
mors  of  vigorous  hostility  on  the  part  of  Mexico,  produced 
great  alarm  in  the  United  States,  especially  along  our  southern 
frontier.  In  New  Orleans,  indignation  was  openly  expressed 
that  our  gallant  men  had  been  despatched  on  this  forlorn 
enterprize  without  the  amplest  means  of  defence  and  attack, 
while  our  arsenals  were  filled  with  all  the  munitions  of  war. 
A  large  force  of  volunteers  was,  therefore,  ordered  out  in  the 
south,  while  two  companies  of  artillery  were  immediately  de 
spatched  to  Taylor's  succor  under  the  command  of  Maj.  Gaily. 

The  report  of  Arista's  progress,  however,  proved  to  be  false, 
so  that  we  were  fortunately  saved  from  attack.  Yet  the  suf 
ferings  of  our  army  did  not  cease  with  those  military  incon 
veniences.  "  Two  thirds  of  the  tents  furnished  our  soldiers 
were  worn  out  or  rotten,  and  had  been  condemned  by  boards 
of  survey  appointed  by  the  proper  authorities  in  accordance 
with  the  army  regulations.  Transparent  as  gauze,  they  af 
forded  little  or  no  protection  against  the  intense  heat  of  sum 
mer  or  the  drenching  rains  and  severe  cold  of  winter.  Even 
the  dews  penetrated  the  thin  covering  almost  without  ob 
struction.  Such  were. the  tents  provided  for  campaigners  in 
a  country  almost  deluged  three  months  in  the  year,  and  more 
variable  in  its  climate  than  any  other  region,  passing  from  the 
extreme  of  heat  to  that  of  cold  in  a  few  hours.  During  the 
whole  of  November  and  December,  either  the  rains  were  de 
scending  with  violence,  or  the  furious  "  northers"  which 
ravage  this  coast  were  breaking  the  frail  tent-poles  or  rending 
the  rotten  canvas.  For  days  and  weeks  every  article  in  hun- 

f  S.  Q.  Rev.  ut  antea.    Senate  doc.  No.  337,  29th  cong.  1st  sess.  p.  93- 


96  HISTORY    OP   THE   WAR   BETWEEN 

dreds  of  tents  was  thoroughly  soaked;  and  during  these  ter 
rible  months,  the  sufferings  of  the  sick,  in  the  crowded  hos 
pital  tents,  \^4re  indescribably  horrible.  Every  day  added  to 
the  frightfulness  of  the  mortality.  At  one  time  a  sixth  of 
the  entire  camp  was  on  the  sick  list,  and  at  least  one-half 
unfit  for  service,  in  consequence  of  dysentery  and  catarrhal 
fevers  which  raged  like  a  pestilence."*  The  camp  was  with 
out  fires,  and,  being  situated  on  the  edge  of  a  vast  prairie 
sparsely  covered  with  muskeet  trees,  was  but  scantily  sup 
plied  with  wood  even  for  the  most  needful  purposes.  The 
quarter-master's  department  furnished  only  the  weak  and 
stunted  mustangs  of  the  country ;  and  the  Jittle  and  ineffi 
cient  ponies,  geared  in  the  large  harness  made  at  the  north 
for  American  horses,  looked  as  if  they  would  jump  through 
their  collars  instead  of  use  them  for  traction.  With  such 
teams  only  a  sufficiency  of  wood  could  be  drawn  for  cooking, 
and  none  for  camp  fires  to  comfort  the  sick  and  suffering  sol 
diers.  aAs  winter  advanced,  the  prairie  became  a  quag 
mire,  the  roads  almost  impassable,  and  as  the  mustangs  died 
in  large  numbers,  wood  enough  for  cooking  even,  could  not 
be  procured.  The  encampment  now  resembled  a  marsh, 
the  water,  at  times,  being  three  or  four  feet  deep  in  the  tents 
of  whole  wings  of  regiments.  All  military  exercises  were 
suspended,  and  the  bleak  gloomy  days  were  passed  in  inac 
tivity,  disgust  and  sullenness.  The  troops,  after  being  tho 
roughly  drenched  all  day,  without  fires  to  dry  them,  lay  down 
at  night  in  wet  blankets  on  the  soaked  ground,  as  plank  for 
tent  floors  was  not  furnished  by  the  quartermasters  until 
the  rainy  season  was  over.  At  times  the  men,  at  tattoo, 
gasped  for  breath  in  the  sultry  night  air,  and,  at  reveillee, 
found  their  moist  blankets  frozen  around  them  and  their 

*  S.  Q.  Rev.  ut  antea. 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  97 

tents  stiff  with  ice.  A  portion  of  the  men  were  kept  without 
pay  for  six  months,  and  the  rest  for  four  months,  although 
the  law  strictly  requires  payment  every  two  months. 

"  Officers  and  soldiers,  destitute  of  funds,  were  compelled 
to  borrow,  upon  the  strength  of  pay  due,  of  their  more  fortu 
nate  companions,  or  of  the  Shylocks,  in  search  of  victims,  that 
polluted  the  camp.  Sick  soldiers,  directed  by  their  surgeons 
to  return  to  the  United  States,  had  eit.her  to  remain  and  die, 
or  to  submit  to  exhorbitant  exactions  from  unfeeling  villians 
in  their  pension  certificates  and  pay  accounts,  though  the 
law  requires  the  paymasters  to  cash  them  in  specie. 

"  On  the  first  landing  of  the  3d  and  4th  infantry  at  Corpus 
Christi,  "  Kinney's  Rancho,"  though  a  lawless,  smuggling 
town,  under  the  vigorous  sway  of  its  martial  proprietor,  was 
as  quiet  and  peaceful  as  a  village  in  New  England.  But 
every  fresh  arrival  of  troops  was  followed  by  some  portion- of 
that  vast  horde  of  harpies,  that  are  ever  to  be  found  in  the 
train  of  all  armies,  ready  to  prey  upon  the  simple  and  un 
suspecting  among  the  soldiers.  In  a  short  time,  hundreds 
of  temporary  structures  were  erected  on  the  outskirts  of  the 
"Rancho,"  and  in  them,  all  the  cut-throats,  thieves,  and 
murderers  of  the  United  States  and  Texas,  seem  to  have 
congregated.  No  sight  could  have  been  more  truly  melan 
choly  than  that  of  their  bloated  and  sin- marked  visages,  as 
they  lounged  through  the  purlieus  of  this  modern  Pande 
monium.  The  air,  by  day,  was  polluted  with  their  horrid 
oaths  and  imprecations, — and  the  savage  yells,  exulting 
shouts,  and  despairing  groans  of  their  murderous  frays,  made 
night  hideous.  But,  not  content  with  confining  their  hellish 
deeds  to  their  own  worthy  fraternity,  they  laid  their  worth 
less  hands  on  the  troops.  Many  of  the  soldiers,  enticed  to 
their  dram-shops,  were  drugged  with  stupifying  portions, 
and  then  robbed  of  their  hard  earnings,  or  murdered  in  cold 
blood." 


OS  HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

General  Taylor,  looking  to  the  probability  of  a  movement 
against  Mexico,  warned  the  department  that  a  ponton  train 
was  indispensable  in  a  country  wherein  streams  abounded 
and  wood  for  bridges  was  scarce;  but  it  was  not  despatched 
until  after  the  next  meeting  of  congress. 

"Six  months  after  the  army  had  taken  the  field,  there 
were  not  teams  and  wagons'  enough  to  transport  one  half  of 
the  troops;  so  that,  in  case  of  hostilities,  had  a  forward  move 
ment  been  ordered,  it  could  only  have  been  effected  by  de 
tachments,  and,  in  consequence,  that  most  fatal  of  all  mili 
tary  errors  would  have  been  committed,  of  permitting  the 
enemy  to  attack  and  beat  in  detail.  The  few  teams'  fur 
nished,  it  is  natural  to  think,  were  the  choicest  to  be  found 
in  the  west.  For,  it  had  been  said,  that  though  the  "  Army 
of  occupation"  was  small,  the  great  celerity  of  its  move 
ments,  from  the  superiority  of  the  American  horses,  would 
contribute,  as  well  as  the  greater  bravery  of  its  men,  to  make 
it  more  than  a  match  for  the  largest  Mexican  force.  Ninety 
yoke  of  oxen  and  several  hundred  mustangs  were  therefore 
bought,  but  not  a  single  American  horse! 

"  Three  batteries  of  artillery  were  added  to  the  one  which, 
at  length  reached  the  company  from  Charleston.  Horses 
were  sent  with  two  of  them,  to  manoeuvre  them  rapidly  on 
the  field  of  battle,  and  to  transport  them  wherever  the  army 
might  go.  But  the  third  came  unprovided  with  cavalry. 

"When  the  New  Orleans  volunteers  left  Corpus  Christi, 
their  artillery  horses  were  turned  over  to  the  company  from 
Charleston.  This  company,  having  always  acted  as  infantry, 
had  never  even  seen  a  flying  artillery  drill, — half  of  the  men 
could  not  ride, — many  had  never  ridden  at  all,  and,  in 
mounting  for  the  first  time,  made  Mr.  Winkle's  mistake  as 
to  which  stirrup  to  use.  It  was  certainly  an  original  idea, 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  99 

to  convert,  in  a  single  day,  a  company  of  foot  into  light  ar 
tillery.  However,  as  horses  had  at  length  been  given  to  the 
company  from  Charleston.,  it  was  the  ardent  desire  of  the 
lieutenant  commanding,  to  teach  his  men  to  ride  and  drive, 
and  the  sabre  exercise.  This  the  loyal  quartermasters  resolved 
to  prevent,  and,  at  the  same  time,  to  show  the  world  how 
economical  they  were.  They,  therefore,  refused  to  purchase 
any  more  hay  and  told  the  dragoons  and  light  artillery,  that 
they,  themselves,  must  cut  and  haul  the  dry  and  sapless 
broom  straw  of  the  prairie,  and  forage  their  horses  on  that."* 

Such  is  a  picture  of  the  sufferings  of  our  army  of  occu 
pation,  drawn  by  an  eye-witness,  and  scarcely  colored  by  the 
warmth  of  his  feelings.  If  the  advice  of  military  men,  and 
the  opinion  of  persons  whose  experience  as  campaigners 
entitled  them  to  respect,  had  been  heeded,  this  war  would 
have  been  speedily  ended.  Ever  since  the  rumor  of  annex 
ation  in  1 843,  but,  especially,  since  the  inaugural  address  of 
President  Polk  in  1845,  in  which  he  pronounced  so  emphatic 
an  opinion  as  to  our  right  to  the  whole  of  Oregon,  our  politi 
cal  firmament  had  been  clouded.  Prudent  men  thought  it 
probable  that  there  would  be  war  with  Mexico  or  hostilities 
with  England,  and  that  the  two  sources  of  irritation,  by  dis 
tracting  our  powers,  would  materially  increase  each  other's 
virulence. 

At  this  time,  General  Gaines,  a  chieftain  who  has  become 
venerable  in  the  service  of  his  country,  and  whose  skill  and 
bravery  on  many  a  field  have  manifested  his  character  in  ac 
tions  that  no  citizen  can  ever  forget,  commanded  on  our 
south-western  frontier.  The  delicate  character  of  our  foreign 
relations,  to  which  allusion  has  just  been  made,  attracted  his 

*  Southern  Quarterly  Review,  ut  antea.  These  statements  are  made  by 
an  able  and  distinguished  officer  of  our  army,  who  was  on  the  field,  and  is 
perfectly  versed  in  all  the  matters  he  discusses. 


100  HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

anxious  attention  in  1845;  and  his  responsibility  as  Chief  on 
a  long,  exposed  frontier,  compelled  him  to  give  timely  warn 
ing  to  the  department.  It  seemed  to  this  officer,  if  we  en 
gaged  hastily  in  war  with  Mexico  or  England,  at  such  a 
crisis,  and  with  no  preparations  either  for  an  army  or  its  in 
struction,  that  the  conflict  would  be  disastrous  or  procrasti 
nated,  especially  as  the  latter  power  had  so  far  surpassed  us 
in  applying  steam  to  naval  purposes.  Long  years  of  peace 
had  rendered  us  indifferent  to  war;  and  unvarying  success  in 
other  conflicts  had  made  us  confident.  Accordingly,  he  re 
commended  the  concentration  of  a  large  force  of  volunteers 
on  the  borders  of  the  probable  theatre  of  war,  where  they 
should  be  trained  in  military  science,  together  with  the  regu 
lars  commanded  by  General  Taylor,  until  the  spring  of  1846. 
If  war  could  not  be  averted  before  that  period,  we  might 
then  be  able  to  march  against  the  enemy  with  a  powerful 
and  disciplined  army.  He  contended  that  the  true  policy 
of  our  country,  in  such  an  assault,  was  to  pursue  with  re 
lentless  energy  the  military  bandits  who  swayed  the  destinies 
of  Mexico,  whilst,  on  all  sides,  we  protected  the  persons  and 
property  of  non-combatants ;  so  that  in  pushing  onward  to 
the  capital  we  would  leave  throughout  the  country  tra 
versed  an  indelible  impression  of  our  justice.  Thus  the 
confidence  of  the  best  portions  of  Mexico  would  be  secured, 
the  prestige  of  her  army  promptly  destroyed,  and  peace  ob 
tained  before  she  was  able  to  rally.  On  the  other  hand, 
General  Gaines  believed  that  if  we  began  war  without  large 
and  instructed  forces,  we  might  count  on  a  protracted  strug 
gle,  as  in  the  Seminole  campaigns  from  1836  to  1842.  The 
precipices  upon  the  doubtful  verge  of  whose  summits  we  tot 
tered  during  the  war,  prove  the  wisdom  of  these  suggestions. 
The  faithful  page  of  history  admonishes  that  nations  as  well 
as  individuals  who  recklessly  disregard  the  essential  maxims 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  101 

that  prescribe  their  prudent  duties,  must  sooner  or  later  pay 
the  penalty  of  neglect.  But  politicians,  uneducated  even  in 
the  pleasant  discipline  of  militia  trainings,  do  not  view  mat 
ters  in  the  same  light  as  military  men  whose  knowledge  of 
detail,  and  of  the  responsibilities  of  real  service,  make  them 
unwilling  to  engage  in  war,  or  even  to  threaten  hostilities, 
without  the  amplest  preparation  to  perform  all  they  promise. 
Without  such  true  and  earnest  discipline  warlike  array  is  but 
a  military  cheat. 

It  is  vain  to  predict  what  might  have  been  the  result  had 
the  advice  of  the  gallant  and  prudent  Gaines  been  adopted ; 
yet  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  a  well  equipped  body  of  twen 
ty-five  or  thirty  thousand  men  would  have  marched  to  the 
city  of  Mexico  and  dictated  peace  at  the  cost  of  one  fourth 
the  blood  and  treasure  that  were  subsequently  expended.  A 
lingering  policy  of  hesitation  together  with  the  acknowledged 
inefficiency  of  Mexico,  may  palliate  the  errors  of  our  cabi 
net  ;  but  wise  politicians  will  not  henceforth  fail  to  be  im 
pressed  with  the  necessity  of  military  preparation  which  this 
conflict  has  taught  us. 

A  war  which  was  originally  supposed  to  be  one  exclusively 
of  defence,  was  suddenly  changed  to  an  aggressive  conflict, 
and  is,  perhaps,  an  additional  excuse  for  our  unpreparedness. 
Most  of  the  events  in  this  narrative  derive  peculiar  interest 
from  the  fact  that  it  is  the  first  and  only  offensive  war  into 
which  we  have  been  forced.  With  every  known  principle 
of  defence  we  had  been  long  acquainted ;  for,  in  the  school 
of  Washington,  we  acquired  a  sound,  practical  knowledge, 
which  subsequent  experience,  under  the  most  perfect  system 
of  self-government,  enabled  us  to  improve.  But  it  is  to  be 
hoped  that  many  years  will  elapse  before  our  volunteers  will 
be  again  called  from  their  peaceful  duties  to  take  part  in  an 


102  HISTORY    OF   THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

aggressive  war,  and  especially  against  a  government  whose 
theory  of  rule  is  the  same  as  our  own. 

NOTE. — Genera]  Gaines,  who  commanded  the  western  division,  was 
censured  by  the  War  department  for  having  made  a  requisition  on  the  go 
vernor  of  Louisiana  for  State  troops  to  be  sent  to  the  army  in  Texas  under 
Taylor^  command,  at  the  moment  of  apprehended  danger  described  in  this 
chapter.  General  Taylor,  for  more  than  a  year  previous  to  September, 
1845,  commanded  one  of  the  brigades  of  Gaines 's  division,  and  the  latter 
never  knew  by  authority  that  the  former  had  been  disconnected  from  him, 
except  upon  temporary  service,  until  advised  by  the  secretary  of  war  on 
the  13th  of  September.  He  never  received  a  copy  of  the  authority  given 
to  Taylor  to  go  to  Texas  until  after  the  date  of  his  requisition  for  Louisiana 
volunteers,  on  the  15th  of  August,  1845 ;  consequently  he  then  considered 
himself  responsible  for  the  strength  and  support  of  one  of  his  own  bri 
gades,  and  b6und  to  succor  it  speedily  when  he  believed  it  to  be  in  immi 
nent  danger.— See  Senate  doc.  No.  378,  for  his  correspondence,  and  espe 
cially  p.  48. 


CHAPTER  II. 

Our  position  at  Corpus  Christi — Instructions  to  Taylor  as  to  the  boundary 
of  the  Rio  Grande — Taylor's  views — Review  and  history  of  the  boun 
dary  question — Letter  from  Mr.  Adams — Santa  Anna's  agreements  with 
Texas,  &c. — March  to  the  Rio  Grande  ordered— Justification  in  a  mili 
tary  point  of  view  of  the  occupation  of  the  disputed  territory — Anecdote 
of  Frederick  the  Great — War  in  Silesia  and  Austria — Madison's  conduct 
to  Spain  in  1810 — Right  of  declaration  of  war — Justifiable  causes  of 
vrar — Opinion  of  Sir  J.  Mackintosh — War  and  diplomacy  contrasted. 

ONE  of  the  most  inclement  winters  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
had  passed  in  the  comfortless  manner  described  in  the  last 
chapter.  Our  attempts  to  negotiate  with  Mexico  were  re 
pulsed,  and  although  our  minister  had  not  yet  returned  to 
the  United  States — having  delayed  at  Jalapa  with  the  hope 
of  finding  Paredes  more  accessible  than  Herrera — every 
thing  indicated  an  ultimate  defeat  of  diplomacy. 

Meanwhile  our  forces  at  Corpus  Christi  were  gradually 
augmenting,  under  the  command  of  Generals  Taylor  and 
Worth.  In  October,  1845,  the  troops  amounted  to  near  four 
thousand,  and  General  Taylor  made  every  preparation,  by 
reconnoissances  between  the  Nueces  and  the  Rio  Grande  for 
the  ultimate  defence  of  soil  which  had  been  claimed  by  our 
government  as  part  of  Texas.* 

*  On  the  15th  of  June,  1845,  Mr.  Bancroft,  as  acting  secretary  of  state, 
wrote  to  General  Taylor  as  follows : 

"  The  point  of  your  ultimate  destination  is  the  western  frontier  of  Texas, 
where  you  will  select  and  occupy,  on  or  near  the  Rio  Grande  del  Norte, 
such  a  site  as  will  consist  with  the  health  of  the  troops,  and  will  be  best 
adapted  to  repel  invasion,  and  to  protect  what,  in  the  event  of  annexation, 
will  be  our  western  border." 

On  the  30th  of  July,  1845,  the  secretary  of  war,  Mr.  Marcy,  declared  to 


104  HISTORY    OF   THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

As  a  military  man  it  was  not  his  duty  to  affix  the  bounda 
ries  that  were  to  be  the  subject  of  negotiation  or  war ;  but 
simply  to  ascertain  precisely  the  extent  of  defence  required 
along  a  disputed  territory,  and  to  dispose  his  troops  atcord- 
ingly.* 

In  October,  1845,  therefore,  General  Taylor  reviewed  the 
instructions  from  the  war  department,  and,  seeing  that  he 
had  been  ordered  to  select  and  occupy  near  the  Rio  Grande 
such  a  site  as  would  consist  with  the  health  of  the  troops, 
and  was  best  adapted  to  repel  invasion,  he  ventured  to  sug 
gest  an  advance  of  his  army.  This  however,  was  done  by 
him  whilst  he  felt  great  diffidence  in  touching  topics  that 
might  become  matter  of  delicate  diplomacy.  Nevertheless, 
taking  a  soldier's  view  of  the  topographical  and  not  the  dip- 

him  that  "the  Rio  Grande  is  claimed  to  be  the  boundary  between  the  two 
countries,  and  up  to  this  boundary  you  are  to  extend  your  protection,  only 
excepting  any  posts  on  the  eastern  side  thereof  which  are  in  the  actual  oc 
cupancy  of  Mexican  forces,  or  Mexican  settlements  over  which  the  re 
public  of  Texas  did  not  exercise  jurisdiction  at  the  period  of  annexation, 
or  shortly  before  that  event.  It  is  expected  that,  in  selecting  the  estab 
lishment  for  your  troops,  you  will  approach  as  near  the  boundary  line — 
the  Rio  Grande — as  prudence  will  dictate.  With  this  view,  the  President 
desires  that  your  position,  for  a  part  of  your  forces,  at  least,  should  be  west 
of  the  river  Nueces." 

This,  and  even  more  forcible  language,  was  repeated  in  letters  from  the 
same  source  on  the  23d  and  30th  of  August,  and  on  the  16th  of  October, 
1845.  In  the  last  letter  the  secretary  of  war  states  distinctly  that  the 
western  boundary  of  Texas  is  the  Rio  Grande.  See  Senate  doc.  No.  337, 
29th  cong.  1st  sess.  pp.  75,  77,  80,  81,  82. 

*  That  this  was  General  Taylor's  view  of  the  question  is  proved  by  a 
remark  in  his  letter  to  General  Ampudia  on  the  12th  of  April,  1846,  on 
being  warned  by  that  officer  to  break  up  his  camp  and  to  retire  to  the  other 
bank  of  the  Nueces.  General  Taylor  says :  I  need  hardly  advise  you  that 
charged  as  I  am,  in  only  a  military  capacity,  with  tKe  performance  of  specific 
duties,  I  cannot  enter  into  a  discussion  of  the  international  question  involved  in 
the  advance  of  the  American  army.— id.  p.  124. 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  105 

lomatic  question,  he  informed  our  government,  that  if  it  made 
the  Rio  Grande  an  ultimatum  in  adjusting  a  boundary,  he 
doubted  not  that  the  settlement  would  be  facilitated  by  tak 
ing  possession,  at  once,  of  one  or  two  suitable  points  on,  or 
quite  near,  that  river.  At  these  spots,  our  strength  would  be 
displayed  in  a  manner  not  to  be  mistaken,  while  the  position 
of  our  troops  at  the  remote  camp  of  Corpus  Christi,  with  arid 
wastes  between  them  and  the  outposts  of  Mexico,  altogether 
failed  to  impress  that  government  with  our  readiness  to  vin 
dicate  by  force  of  arms  our  title  to  the  country  as  far  as  the 
Rio  Grande.*  Moreover,  General  Taylor  felt  encumbered 
by  the  orders  from  our  war  department  of  the  8th  July,  in 
which  he  was  told  that  Mexico  held  military  establishments 
on  the  east  side  of  the  Rio  Grande,  whose  forces  he  should  not 
disturb  until  our  peaceful  relations  were  finally  destroyed. f 

Accordingly,  on  the  13th  of  January,  1846,  our  comman- 
der-in-chief  was  directed  to  advance  with  his  troops  to  the 
Rio  Grande.J  This  movement  was  made  in  consequence 
of  the  anticipated  failure  of  our  negotiations,  clearly  indi 
cated  by  the  conduct  of  the  Mexican  government  imme 
diately  upon  the  arrival  of  Mr.  Slidell  in  the  capital.  But 
before  these  orders  were  despatched  to  General  Taylor,  he 
had  already  in  August,  1845,  been  apprised  of  his  duties  in 
the  event  of  hostile  demonstrations  on  the  part  of  the  enemy. 
In  case  of  an  invasion  of  Texas  by  the  Mexicans,  he  was 
directed  to  drive  them  back  beyond  the  Rio  Grande;  and, 
although  it  was  desirable  that  he  should  confine  himself  as 
much  as  possible  to  defensive  measures,  yet,  in  the  event  of 
such  a  repulse,  he  was  authorized  to  seize  and  hold  posses 
sion  of  Matamoros  and  other  places  on  the  soil  of  Mexico. 

This  resolution  of  our  government  was  made  the  subject 

*  See  Senate  Doc.  No.  337,  29th  cong.  1st  sess.  p.  99. 
t  Id.  p.  75.  |  Id.  p.  82. 

14 


106  HISTORY    OF   THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

of  grave  complaint  by  persons  who  opposed  the  war.  The 
order  to  advance  from  Corpus  Christ!  to  the  Rio  Grande  was 
alleged  to  be  an  act  of  invasion,  and  consequently,  that  hos 
tilities  were  commenced  by  us  and  not  by  Mexico. 

It  may  be  pardoned  if  we  pause  awhile  to  consider  a  sub 
ject  of  such  vital  importance.  The  solution  of  the  question 
was  placed  by  one  party  upon  the  determination  whether 
the  Rio  Grande  was  the  boundary  between  Texas  and 
Mexico  before  the  battle  of  San  Jacinto;  and,  if  not,  whether 
it  has  been  made  so  since  by  competent  authority.  Up  to 
that  period  it  was  asserted  to  be  a  recognized  fact  that  the 
Nueces  was  the  western  boundary  of  Texas.  Mr.  John 
Quincy  Adams,  in  his  controversy  with  Don  Luis  De  Onis, 
upon  the  Spanish  boundary  question,  in  March,  1818;*  and 
Messieurs  Pinckney  and  Monroe,  in  their  argument  with 
Cevallos  at  Madrid  in  April,  lS05,f  claimed  the  Rio  Grande 
as  the  true  limit  between  the  United  States  and  Mexico,  by 
virtue  of  the  ancient  rights  of  France  and  the  treaties  between 
that  sovereignty  and  the  Spanish  king.*  It  was  asserted, 

*  American  State  papers,  vol.  4,  p.  468. 

t  Id.  vol.  2,  p.  662. 

J  As  it  may  be  important  that  the  reader  should  understand  the  title  to 
Louisiana  under  which  the  boundary  of  the  Rio  Grande  was  claimed,  the 
following  is  a  summary  of  its  history.  Louisiana  originally  belonged  to 
France,  but  by  a  secret  compact  between  that  country  and  Spain  in  1762, 
and  by  treaties,  in  the  following  year,  between  France,  Spain,  and  Eng 
land,  the  French  dominion  was  extinguished  on  all  the  continent  of  Ame 
rica.  In  consequence  of  the  treaty  between  this  country  and  England  in 
1783,  the  Mississippi  became  the  western  boundary  of  the  United  States 
from  its  source  to  the  31°  of  north  latitude,  and  thence,  on  the  same  paral 
lel  to  the  St.  Mary's.  France,  it  will  be  remembered,  always  had  claimed 
dominion  in  Louisiana  to  the  Rio  Bravo  or  Rio  Grande,  by  virtue 

1st.  Of  the  discovery  of  the  Mississippi  from  near  its  source  to  the  ocean. 

2d.  Of  the  possession  taken,  and  establishment  made  by  La  Salle,  at  the  bay  of 
St.  Bernard,  west  of  the  rivers  Trinity  and  Colorado,  by  authority  of  Louis  XJVt 
in  1685 ;  notwithstanding  the  subsequent  destruction  of  the  colony. 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  107 

therefore,  that  by  the  cession  of  Louisiana  all  the  rights  of 
France  over  Texas,  as  an  integral  part  of  her  territory,  ac 
crued  to  us;  and  consequently  that  when  the  State  of  Texas 
was  united  to  this  country  it  was  only  re-annexed  with  what 
were  claimed  to  be  its  ancient  limits.  But  this  was  not  a 

.     3d.  Of  the  charter  of  Louis  XIV,  to  Crozat  in  1712. 

4th.  The  historical  authority  of  Du  Pratz,  Champigny,  and  the  Count  de 
Vergennes. 

5th.  Of  the  authority  of  De  Lisle's  map,  and  of  the  map  published  in 
1762  by  Don  Thomas  Lopez,  geographer  to  the  king  of  Spain,  as  well  as  of 
various  other  maps,  atlases,  and  geographical  and  historical  authorities. 

By  an  article  of  the  secret  treaty  of  San  Ildefonso,  in  October,  1800, 
Spain  retroceded  Louisiana  to  France ;  yet  this  treaty  was  not  promulgated 
till  the  beginning  of  1802.  The  paragraph  of  cession  is  as  follows:  "His 
Catholic  majesty  engages  to  retrocede  to  the  French  republic,  six  months 
after  the  full  arid  entire  execution  of  the  conditions  and  stipulations  above 
recited  relative  to  his  Royal  Highness,  the  Duke  of  Parma,  the  colony  and 
province  of  Louisiana,  with  the  same  extent  that  it  already  has  in  the 
hands  of  Spain,  and  that  it  had  when  France  possessed  it,  and  such  as  it  should 
be,  after  the  treaties  passed  subsequently  between  Spain  and  other  powers." 
In  1803,  Bonaparte,  the  first  consul  of  the  French  republic,  ceded  Louis 
iana  to  the  United  States,  as  fully  and  in  the  same  manner  as  it  had  been 
retroceded  to  France  by  Spain  in  the  treaty  of  San  Ildefonso  ;  and,  by  vir 
tue  of  this  grant,  Messieurs  Madison,  Monroe,  Adams,  Clay,  Van  Buren, 
and  Jackson  contended  that  the  original  limits  of  the  state  had  been  the 
Rio  Grande.  However,  by  the  3rd  article  of  our  treaty  with  Spain  in 
1819,  all  our  pretensions  to  extend  the  territory  of  Louisiana  towards 
Mexico  or  the  Rio  Grande,  were  resigned  and  abandoned  by  adopting  the 
River  Sabine  as  our  southern  confine  in  that  quarter.  See  Lyman's  diplo 
macy  of  the  United  States.  Vol.  1,  p.  368,  and  vol.  2.  p.  136. 

The  following  extract  from  a  valuable  letter  with  which  the  author  was 
favored  by  Ex-President  Adams,  who,  as  secretary  of  state,  conducted  the 
negotiations  with  Spain,  will  explain  his. opinions  and  acts  upon  a  subject 
of  so  much  importance. 

QUINCY,  7th  July,  1847. 
**#**###* 

"Whoever  sets  out  with  an  inquiry  respecting  the  right  of  territories  in 
the  American  hemisphere  claimed  by  Europeans,  must  begin  by  settling 


108  HISTORY    OF   THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

true  statement  of  the  controversy,  for  after  our  treaty  with 
Spain  the  aspect  of  the  affair  changed.  The  question  then 
was  no  longer  what  had  been  the  boundary  under  the  laws 
between  France  and  Spain,  or  between  Spain  and  the 
United  States, — but  what  were  the  limits  either  under  the 

certain  conventional  principles  of  right  and  wrong  before  he  can  enter 
upon  the  discussion. 

"For  example  what  right  had  Columbus  to  Cat  Island,  otherwise  called 
Guanahani  ?  Who  has  the  right  to  it  now  and  how  came  they  by  it?  The 
flag  of  St.  George  and  the  Dragon  now  waves  over  it ;  but  who  had  the 
right  to  take  possession  of  it  because  Christopher  Columbus  found  it, — the 
paltriest  island  in  the  midst  of  the  ocean.  European  statesmen,  warriors, 
and  writers  on  what  are  called  the  laws  of  nations,  have  laid  down  a  sys 
tem  of  laws  upon  which  they  found  this  right.  Have  the  Carribee  In 
dians,  in  whose  possession  that  Island  was  discovered  by  Columbus,  ever 
assented  to  that  system  of  right  and  wrong  ? 

"You  remember  that  Hume,  in  commencing  his  history  of  England  by 
the  Roman  conquest  says — "that  without  seeking  any  more  justifiable  rea 
sons  of  hostility  than  were  employed  by  the  later  Europeans  in  subjecting 
the  Africans  and  the  Americans,  they  sent  over  an  army  under  the  com 
mand  of  Plautius,  an  able  general,  who  gained  some  victories,  and  made  a 
considerable  progress  in  subduing  the  inhabitants."  Then,  no  European 
has  ever  had  any  better  right  to  take  possession  of  America,  than  Julius 
Caesar  and  the  Romans  had  to  take  possession  of  the  island  of  Britain. 

"What  then  was  the  right  either  of  France  or  Spain  to  the  possession 
of  the  province  of  Texas  ?  To  come  to  any  question  of  right  between  the 
parties  upon  the  subject  you  must  agree  upon  certain  conventional  princi 
ples:  where  and  when  your  question  of  right  must  become  applicable  to 
the  facts ;  and,  as  between  them,  it  was  a  disputed  question,  and  had  been 
so  from  the  discovery  of  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  river  by  La  Salle, 
and  from  his  second  expedition  to  find  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  coming 
from  the  ocean,  in  which  he  perished. 

"  Spain  had  prior  claims  to  the  country,  but  the  claim  of  France  was 
founded  upon  the  last  voyage  of  La  Salle,  and  by  extending  a  supposed 
derivative  right,  from  the  spot  where  La  Salle  landed  half  way  to  the 
nearest  Spanish  settlement. 

"  Mr.  Monroe  and  Mr.  Charles  Pinckney,  in  their  correspondence  with 
Cevallos,  assumed  this  as  a  settled  principle  between  European  nations,  in 
the  discussion  of  right  to  American  territory.  It  was  not  contested,  but 


MEXICO    AND   THE    UNITED    STATES.  109 

colonial  government  of  the  Mexican  viceroyalty,  or  under 
the  laws  of  Mexico,  when  she  became  an  independent  re 
public.  It  was  asserted  that  no  map  or  geography  existed 
since  the  establishment  of  the  republic  that  did  not  lay  down 
the  boundary  north  of  the  Rio  Grande.  The  map  of  Texas, 
compiled  by  Stephen  H.  Austin,  the  parent  of  Texan  colo 
nization,  published  at  Philadelphia  in  1835,  and  setting  forth 
all  the  Mexican  grants  in  Texas,  represents  the, Rio  Nueces 
as  the  western  boundary.  General  Almonte  in  1834,  as  I 
have  previously  stated,  alleged,  upon  the  authority  of  the 
State  government  of  Coahuila  and  Texas  that  the  boundary 
between  them  was  even  east  of  the  Nueces.  This  was  pro 
bably  in  accordance  with  the  ancient  Spanish  division ;  for, 
in  1805  Cevallos  declared  to  our  ministers  at  Madrid  that  the 
province  of  Texas,  "  where  the  Spaniards  have  had  settle 
ments  from  the  17th  century,  was  bounded  on  the  east  by 
Louisiana,  and  contains  the  extensive  country  which  lies  be 
tween  the  river  Medina  where  the  government  of  Coahuila 
ends,  and  the  post  now  abandoned,"  Authorities  to  this 

was  not  assented  to  on  the  part  of  Spain;  and,  having  found  it  laid  down 
by  Messieurs  Monroe  and  Pinckney,  1  argued  upon  it,  and  it  was  never 
directly  answered  by  Don  Luis  De  Onis,  who  could  not  controvert  it  with 
out  going  to  the  Pope's  Bull.f 

"  As  between  France  and  Spain  therefore,  I  maintained  that  the  question 
of  right,  had  always  been  disputed  and  never  was  settled,  from  which 
opinion  I  have  not  since  varied.  That  we  had  a  shadow  of  right  beyond 
the  Sabine  I  never  believed  since  the  conclusion  of  the  Florida  treaty,  and, 
it  is  from  the  date  of  that  treaty,  that  Great  Britain  had  not  a  shadow  of 
right  upon  the  Oregon  territory  until  we  have  been  pleased  to  confer  it 
upon  her." 

******  **# 

"  I  am,  dear  sir,  with  great  respect,  your  very  obedient  servant, 

J.  Q.  ADAMS." 
To  BRANTZ  MAYER,  ESQ.,  Baltimore." 

t  Alexander  Vlth's  Bull  of  Donation, 


110  HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

effect  might  be  extensively  multiplied.*  Brazos  de  Santiago 
was  a  Mexican,  port  of  entry,  which  continued  to  be  held  up 
to  the  period  of  hostilities,  and  Laredo  was  a  small  Mexican 
town,  occupied  by  a  Mexican  garrison.  If  such  was  the 
geographical  division  between  Texas  and  Mexico  on  the 
lower  Rio  Grande,  near  its  mouth  in  the  gulf,  it  was  asserted 
that  there  could  be  infinitely  less  right  to, claim  it  as  a  limit 
nearer  its  source,  since  Santa  Fe,  the  capital  of  New  Mexico, 
had  never  been  within  the  jurisdiction  of  Texas,  and  since 
the  boundaries  of  Chihuahua  commenced  near  the  head 
waters  of  the  Nueces. 

These  were  some  of  the  arguments  used  by  individuals 
who  deemed  the  march  to  Point  Isabel  an  invasion  of  Mexi 
can  territory.  It  is  just  that  a  few  reasons  should  also  be 
presented  on  behalf  of  those  who  believed  it  to  be  lawful  or 
expedient. 

When  Santa  Anna  was  captured  after  the  battle  of  San 
Jacinto  in  1836,  the  leading  men  in  Texas  had  great  diffi 
culty  in  rescuing  him  from  popular  vengeance  for  the  massa- 

*  See  "  Matthew  Carey's  general  map  of  the  world," — 29th  map — pub 
lished  1814.— Kennedy's  Texas,  p.  4.— Mrs.  Holley's  Texas.— History  of 
Texas,  by  D.  B.  Edwards,  preceptor  of  Gonzales  Seminary,  Texas,  1836, 
p.  14.  He  says: — "Texas  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  Red  river,  which 
divides  it  from  Arkansas,  Ozark  District,  and  New  Mexico ;  on  the  south 
by  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  the' Rio  de  las  Nueces,  which  divides  it  from  the 
States  of  Coahuila  and  Tamaulipas ;  on  the  east  by  the  eastern  branch  of  the 
river  Sabine  and  the  State  of  Louisiana ;  on  the  west  by  the  State  of  Coa 
huila  and  the  territory  of  New  Mexico." 

Accompanying  the  work  is  a  map  of  Texas  with  boundaries,  as  laid 
down  above.  In  a  note  on  one  corner  of  the  map,  speaking  of  the 
Rio  Grande,  he  says :  "  If  this  river  should  ever  become  the  western 
boundary  of  Texas  (as  desired  by  the  inhabitants)  it  will  add  a  hundred 
miles  to  its  sea-coast  and  fifty  thousand  square  miles  to  its  superficies ;  the 
southern  section  of  the  surface  is  sandy,  barren  prairie,  almost  destitute  of 
water ;  and  its  northern  rocky,  sterile  mountains,  nearly  as  destitute  of 
timber." 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  Ill 

cres  he  had  committed.  The  victory  over  the  central  chief— 
the  despot  and  dictator  of  Mexico — was  generally  believed 
to  be  a  crowning  measure  of  success,  for  the  bitter  persecutor 
soon  dwindled  into  the  humble  supplicant,  and  pledged 
his  name  and  his  oath  to  secure  the  independence  of  the 
rebellious  State.  Accordingly,  with  every  appearance  and 
promise  of  good  faith  and  honor,  he  executed  contracts 
with  the  Texan  authorities  which  deserve  consideration  in 
discussing  this  question.  On  the  14th  of  May,  1836,  at  Ve- 
lasco,  two  of  these  documents  wete  signed  by  Santa  Anna, 
Burnet,  Collings worth,  Hard i  mart  and  Grayson, — the  first 
being  a  public,  and  the  second  a  secret  convention  between 
the  parties.  The  third  article  of  the  first  paper  •  stipulates 
that  the  Mexican  troops  shall  evacuate  the  territory  of  Tex 
as,  passing  to  the  other  side  of  the  Rio  Grande,  while  the 
fourth  article  of  the  secret  agreement  declares  that  a  treaty  of 
amity,  commerce  and  limits  shall  be  made  between  Mexico 
and  Texas,  the  territory  of  the  latter  power  not  to  extend 
beyond  the  Rio  Bravo  del  Norte,  or  Rio  Grande.  In  con 
formity  with  these  contracts,  Texas  set  free  the  prisoner, 
whose  "  prompt  release  and  departure  for  Vera  Cruz,"  ac 
cording  to  their  tenor,  "  were  necessary  for  the  fulfilment 
of  his  solemn  oath"  to  obtairi  a  recognition  of  the  indepen 
dence  of  Texas,  and  to  dispose  the  Mexican  cabinet  for  the 
reception  of  commissioners.* 

Santa  Anna  returned  to  his  country  in  disgrace  after  his 
disastrous  campaign,  and  lurked  in  retirement  at  his  farm 
until  the  French  attacked  Vera  Cruz,  when  he  threw  him 
self  again  at  the  head  of  the  departmental  forces.  In  the 
action  he  fortunately  lost  a  limb,  and  by  the  skilful  display 
of  his  mutilation  in  defence  of  Mexico,  he  renewed  his 

*  Primer  a  Campana  de  Tejas:  by  Ramon  Martinez  Caro,  secretary  of 
Santa  Anna,  pp.  122,  125. 


J12  HISTORY    OP   THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

claims  to  national  gratitude.  Instead,  however,  of  using  his 
influence  to  obtain  the  treaty,  promised  as  the  boon  for  his 
life,  he  became  at  once  the  bitterest  foe  of  Texas,  and  pledged 
himself  to  fight  "  forever  for  its  reconquest."  Texas,  mean 
while,  acting  in  good  faith,  and  presuming  to  adopt  the  spi 
rit  and  letter  of  the  convention  with  Santa  Anna,  whom  she 
naturally  regarded  as  the  dictator  of  Mexico,  passed  the  act 
of  December  19,  1836,  establishing  the  Rio  Grande  as  her 
boundary  from  the  gulf  to  its  source.  Besides  this,  her 
congress  created  senatorial  and  representative  districts  west 
of  the  Nueces;  organized  and  defined  limits  of  counties 
extending  to  the  Rio  Grande;  created  courts  of  justice; 
spread  her  judicial  system  over  the  country  wherever  her 
people  roamed,  and  performed  other  acts  of  sovereignty 
which  we  are  compelled  not  to  disregard.  It  cannot  be 
contended  that  these  acts  and  agreements  were  alone  suffi 
cient,  under  the  laws  of  nations,  to  confer  upon  Texas  un 
questionable  rights  over  the  soil  between  the  Nueces  and  the 
Rio  Grande,  for  a  contract  with  the  captive  president  and 
general  was  not  legally  binding ;  but  it  is  equally  clear  that 
all  these  arguments  of  the  old  authorities  as  to  the  original 
boundary,  and  all  the  new  claims  set  up  by  Texas,  under 
her  statutes,  as  well  as  stipulations  with  Santa  Anna,  made 
that  territory  a  disputed  ground  whose  real  ownership  could 
only  be  equitably  settled  by  negotiation.  The  strong  language 
of  both  the  contracts,  just  recited,  seems  to  concede  the 
fact  that  the  president  of  Mexico  regarded,  at  least  the  lower 
Rio  Grande,  as  already  the  real  boundary  between  Mexico 
and  Texas,  notwithstanding  the  opinion  of  Almonte  in  1834; 
and  consequently  that  it  was  neither  the  subject  of  treaty  or 
agreement  at  that  moment,  nor  could  it  become  so  after 
wards  when  commissioners  were  appointed. 
When  Texas  was  annexed  to  the  United  States  she  was 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  113 

received  with  these  asserted  limits,  though  she  did  not  join 
the  Union  with  any  specific  boundaries.*  It  was  thought 
best  by  both  parties  to  leave  the  question  of  confines  open 
between  Mexico  and  our  country,  so  as  not  to  complicate 
the  national  entanglements.  After  the  congress  of  the 
United  States  and  convention  in  Texas  had  acted  upon  the 
joint  resolution  it  was  impossible  for  us  to  recede.  The 
course  of  our  presidents,  therefore,  was  at  once  pacific  and 
soothing  towards  Mexico.  For  although  they  believed  that 
republic  had  no  right  to  be  consulted  as  to  the  annexation 
of  Texas,  a  free  and  independent  State,  they  nevertheless 
admitted  all  her  natural  and  just  privileges  in  regard  to 
boundary.  Mr.  Tyler  and  Mr.  Polk  therefore  despatched 
envoys  to  Mexico  with  the  offer  of  liberal  negotiations  as 
soon  as  a  favorable  opportunity  presented  itself.  But  the 
charge  and  minister  of  Mr.  Tyler  were  scornfully  rejected, 
while  Mr.  Slidell,  as  has  been  already  related,  was  refused 
an  audience  upon  frivolous  pretences  at  a  moment  when  the 
Mexican  secretary  was  secretly  craving  to  receive  him.f 

In  such  a  juncture  what  was  the  duty  of  the  United 
States  ?  It  is  an  easy  matter  for  speculative  philosophers  or 
political  critics  to  find  fault  with  the  conduct  of  statesmen 

*  Mr.  Donelson  wrote  to  Mr.  Buchanan  on  the  2d  July,  1845,  from  Wash 
ington,  Texas,  as  follows:  " My  position  is  that  we  can  hold  Corpus  Christ! 
and  all  other  points  up  the  Nueces.  If  attacked,  the  right  of  defence  will 
authorise  us  to  expel  the  Mexicans  to  the  Rio  Grande.  It  is  better  for  us 
to  await  the  attack  than  incur  the  risk  of  embarrassing  the  question  of  an 
nexation  with  the  consequences  of  immediate  possession  of  the  territory 
on  the  Rio  Grande.  *  *  *  The  government  left  for  treaty  arrange 
ment  the  boundary  question  in  the  propositions  for  a  definitive  treaty  of 
peace.  H.  of  R.  doc.  No.  2,  29th  cong.  1st  sess.  pp.  78,  79. 

1 1  am  informed  by  Mr.  Parrott,  the  secretary  of  legation  who  accompa 
nied  Mr.  Slidell,  that  no  form  of  letters  of  credence— or  evidence  of  pow 
ers  as  "  commissioner  to  settle  the  Texan  dispute,"  would  have  secured  a  hear 
ing  for  our  envoy.  The  mob,  the  army,  and  Paredes  were  determined 
that  no  missionary  of  peace  should  be  received  from  the  United  States. 
15 


114  HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR    BETWEEN 

•     •  tfe 

and  to  become  prophets  of  woe  after  the  occurrence  of 
events  they  deprecate.  But  such  men  are  timid  actors  on 
the  world's  stage,  and  especially  in  such  a  theatre  of  folly 
as  the  Mexican  republic.  Governments  have  but  two  ways 
of  settling  international  disputes, — either  by  negotiation  or 
war, — and,  even  the  latter  must  be  concluded  by  diplomacy, 
for  nations  rarely  fight  until  one  of  them  is  completely  anni 
hilated.  Negotiation,  or  the  attempt  to  negotiate,  had  been 
completely  exhausted  by  us.  Meanwhile  Mexico  continued 
to  excite  our  curiosity  by  spasmodic  struggles  in  nerving 
her  people  for  the  war,  as  well  as  by  gasconading  despatches 
which  breathed  relentless  animosity  to  our  country  for  the 
annexation  of  Texas.  Nevertheless,  this  sensitive  and 
vaunting  nation  would  neither  make  peace,  establish  boun 
daries,  negotiate,  nor  declare  war.  Was  it  reasonable  that 
such  a  frantic  state  of  things  should  be  permitted  to  con 
tinue.?  Could  this  perverse  aversion  to  fighting  or  friend 
ship  be  tolerated?  Were  our  countries  to  conclude  an  eter 
nal  compact  of  mutual  hatred  and  non  intercourse?  Was 
such  childish  obstinacy  and  weakness  to  be  connived  at  in 
our  country?  Was  it  due  to  common  sense,  justice,  or  the 
preservation  of  a  good  neighborhood  that  we  should  remain 
supine  under  insane  threats  and  dishonorable  treatment? 
We  asserted  that,  upon  the  Texas  question,  we  had  rightly 
no  dispute  with  Mexico,  except  as  to  the  boundary  involved 
in  the  territory  our  forces  were  then  occupying  or  about  to 
cross.  We  did  not  design  discussing  our  right  to  annex 
Texas.  That  was  an  act  accomplished  and  unalterable.  It 
was,  doubtless,  exceedingly  convenient  for  Mexico  to  main 
tain  this  pacific  state  of  quasi-war  and  to  reject,  alike,  our 
amity  and  hostilities,  as  long  as  she  owed  us  many  millions 
of  dollars  and  refused  either  to  pay  principal  or  interest,  or 
to  conclude  a  treaty  for  the  settlement  of  unadjusted  claims. 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  115 

Whilst  her  government  was  able  to  enforce  non-intercourse, 
it  was  free  from  importunity  and  payment.  But  this  adroit' 
scheme  of  insolvency  was  unjust  to  our  citizens,  and  only 
served0  to  augment  the  liabilities  of  Mexico.  What  then 
remained  to  be  done  ?  The  reply  may  be  found  in  a  signi 
ficant  anecdote  related  by  Mr.  Adams  in  a  speech  in  con 
gress  on  the  Oregon  question,  on  the  2d  of  January,  1846. 
"After  negotiating" — said  he — "for  twenty  years  about 
thi$  matter  we  may  take  possession  of  the  subject  matter  of 
negotiation.  Indeed,  we  may  negotiate  after  we  take  pos 
session,  and  this  is  the  military  way  of  doing  business. 
When  Frederick  the  Great  came  to  the  throne  of  Prussia  he 
found  that  his  father  had  equipped  for  him  an  army  of  a 
hundred  thousand  men.  Meeting  soon  after  the  Austrian 
minister,  the  latter  said  to  him:  "Your  father  has  given  you 
a  great  army,  but  ours  has  seen  the  wolf,  whilst  your  ma 
jesty's  has  not."  "  Well — well !"  exclaimed  Frederick,  "  I 
will  soon  give  it  an  opportunity  to  see  the  wolf!"  Fred 
erick  then  added,  in  his  memoirs: — "I  had  some  excellent 
old  pretensions  to  an  Austrian  province,  which  some  of  my 
ancestors  owned  one  or  two  centuries  before;  accordingly  I 
sent  an  ambassador  to  the  court  of  Austria  stating  my  claim, 
and  presenting  a  full  exposition  of  my  right  to  the  province. 
The  same  day  my  ambassador  was  received  in  Vienna,  I 
entered  Silesia  with  my  army!"4 

*  The  claim  of  Frederick  the  Ilnd  to  Silesia  was  considered  plausible.  As 
Bohemia  renounced  not  only  the  possession,  but  all  its  rights  to  Silesia  by 
the  treaties  of  Breslau  and  Berlin  and  other  subsequent  treaties,  the  kings 
of  Prussia  pretended,  that  by  virtue  of  the  renunciation,  they  became  sov 
ereign  dukes  of  the  country  and  not  subject  to  the  emperor  in  their  new 
character.  To  this  claim  it  was  replied  that  Bohemia  being  an  imperial 
State,  could  not,  of  its  own  authority,  destroy  the  feudal  tenure  by  which 
Silesia  was  attached  to  it,  and  through  it  to  the  empire.  The  question  was 
rendered  more  intricate,  for  one  party  considered  Bohemia  feudal  only  as 


116  HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

Such  would-  be  a  prompt  and  impulsive  answer  to  the 
manifold  prevarications  of  seditious  Mexico.  But  the  army 
we  advanced  and  the  country  we  occupied,  were  neither  the 
army  of  Frederick  nor  the  pleasant  vales  of  rich  and  popu 
lous  Silesia.  A  nearly  desolate  waste,  stretched  from  the 
Nueces  to  the  Rio  Grande,  barren  alike  in  soil  and  inhabi 
tants,  and  tempting  none  to  its  dreary  wilderness  but  noma 
dic  rancher os  or  outlaws  who  found  even  Mexico  no  place 
of  refuge  for  their  wickedness.  It  was,  surely,  not  a  land 
worthy  of  bloodshed,  and  yet,  in  consequence  of  its  sterility, 
it 'became  of  vast  importance  on  a  frontier  across  whose 
wide  extent  enemies  might  pass  unobserved  and  unmolested. 
With  the  entire  command  of  the  Rio  Grande  from  its  source 
to  its  mouth  in  the  hands  of  our  enemy,  and  the  whole  of 
this  arid  region  flanking  the  stream  and  interposing  itself 
between  Mexico  and  our  troops,  it  is  evident  that  our  ad 
versaries  would  possess  unusual  advantages  over  us  either 
for  offensive  or  defensive  war.  The  mere  control  of  the  em 
bouchure  of  the  river  was  no  trivial  superiority,  for,  on  a 
stormy  and  inhospitable  coa^f,  it  was  almost  impossible  to 
support  an  effectual  blockade  and  thus  prevent  the  enemy 
from  being  succored  along  his  whole  frontier  with  arms  and 
provisions  from  abroad.  By  seizing,  however,  the  usual 
points  of  transit  and  entrance  on  the  lower  Rio  Grande 
many  of  these  evils  might  be  avoided ;  and,  if  Mexico  ulti 
mately  resolved  on  hostilities,  we  should  be  enabled  to  throw 
our  forces  promptly  across  the  river,  and  by  rapid  marches 

to  the  electoral  dignity,  but  as  a  kingdom  free  and  independent  of  Ger 
many.  The  Germans  argued  that  Silesia  was  part  of  the  empire,  the 
Prussians  considered  it  a  separate  and  independent  State.  Frederick  took 
advantage  of  these  "state  right"  doctrines  to  sustain  his  claim,  as  Texas 
took  advantage  of  her  state  right  sovereignty  when  the  central  despotism 
of  Santa  Anna  overthrew  the  federal  constitution  of  1824. 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  117 

obtain  the  command  of  all  the  military  positions  of  vantage 
along  her  north-eastern  boundary. 

The  foresight  of  Frederick  the  Great  disclosed  to  him  the 
military  value  of  Silesia  in  the  event  of  a  war  with  Austria, 
and  it  was  probably  that  circumstance,  quite  as  much  as  his 
alleged  political  rights,  that  induced  him  to  enter  it  with  an 
army  on  the  day  when  he  commenced  negotiations.  He 
began  the  war  with  Austria  by  surprising  Saxony,  and, 
during  all  his  difficulties,  clung  tenaciously  to  the  possession 
of  Silesia.  Saxony  was  important  as  a  military  barrier 
covering  Prussia  on  the  side  of  Austria,  while  Silesia  in 
dented  deeply  the  line  of  the  Austrian  frontier  and  flanked  a 
large  part  of  Bohemia.*  Thus  Saxony  and  Silesia  formed 
a  natural  fortification  for  Prussia,  just  as  the  deserts  of  the 
disputed  land,  when  in  our  rear,  covered  the  undefended 
confines  of  Texas  at  the  same*  time  that  they  gave  us  the 
keys  to  the  enemy's  country  at  Point  Isabel  and  Matamoros. 

It  may  be  asserted  that,  when  vacant  or  nearly  vacant 
territory  is  in  controversy  between  two  nations,  and  forms 
the  only  subject  of  real  dispute  between  them,  it  would  be 
better  for  both  to  refrain  from  an  attempt  to  occupy  it,  pro 
vided  they  are  willing  to  arbitrate  the  quarrel,  or  settle  it  by 
diplomacy.  But,  when  both  parties  assert  claims,  both  have 
equal  rights  to  enter  it,  when  negotiation  fails.  The  deci 
sion  is  then  to  be  made  only  by  intimidation  or  war.  There 
is  no  alternative  by  which  collision  can  be  escaped,  and  it 
is  the  duty  of  the  wiser  of  the  disputants  to  place  his  na 
tional  forces  in  such  an  advantageous  position  as  either  to 
defend  his  acknowledged  territory  or  force  himself  to  be 
driven  from  the  soil  he  claims.  "I  do  not  consider  the 
inarch  to  the  Rio  Grande  to  have  been  the  cause  of  the 

*  Arnold's  fourth  lecture  on  Modern  History. 


118  HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

war" — said  a  distinguished  statesman,  "anymore  than  I 
consider  the  British  march  on  Concord  or  Lexington  to  have 
been  the  cause  of  the  American  revolution,  or  the  crossing 
of  the  Rubicon  to  have  been  the  cause  of  the  civil  war  in 
Rome.  The  march  to  the  Rio  Grande  brought  on  the  colli 
sion  of  arms,  but,  so  far  from  being  the  cause  of  the  war,  it 
was  itself  the  effect  of  those  causes." 

The  power  of  declaring  war  is  expressly  reserved  by  the 
constitution  to  congress,  and,  though  the  president  is  com 
mander  in  chief  of  the  army  when  called  into  actual  service, 
he  should  be  extremely  cautious  in  issuing  orders"  or  doing 
acts  which  may  lead  to  hostilities  resulting  in  war.  Our 
congress  was  in  session  in  January,  1846,  when  Mr.  Slidell 
was  rejected  by  Mexico,  when  our  international  relations 
were  complicated  as  I  have  described,  and  when  the  secre 
tary  of  war,  by  the  president's  direction,  gave  the  order  for 
Taylor's  advance  to  the  Rio  Grande.  This  was  an  act  that 
brought  the  armies  of  Mexico  and  the  United  States  in  front 
of  each  other;  and  although  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  con 
gress  would  have  authorised  the  movement  of  our  troops 
under  the  military  advice  of  General  Taylor, — provided  the 
Rio  Grande  was  to  be  made  an  ultimatum  in  the  ratification 
of  a  treaty  by  our  senate, — it  is,  nevertheless,  to  be  pro 
foundly  regretted  that  the  question  was  not  previously  sub 
mitted  to  our  national  representatives.  At  that  moment  the 
public  mind  was  distracted  between  Mexico  and  England; 
but  the  Oregon  question  nearly  absorbed  the  apparently 
minor  difficulties  with  our  restive  neighbor.  Congress  con 
templated  the  solemn  probability  of  war  with  one  of  the 
mightiest  nations  of  our  age,  and  even  some  of  our  expe 
rienced  statesmen, — as  we  have  seen  in  the  example  of  Mr. 
Adams, — recommended  the  most  stringent  measures  of 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  119 

armed  occupation.  At  such  a  crisis,  and  with  a  confiden 
tial  knowledge  of  .all  our  foreign  relations,  it  was  the  duty 
of  the  president  to  represent  these  matters  frankly  to  con 
gress  and  to  ask  the  opinion  of  his  constitutional  advisers, 
as  he  subsequently  did  in  the  settlement  of  the  dispute  with 
Great  Britain.  This  prudent  act  would  have  saved  the  ex 
ecutive  from  needless  responsibility,  whilst  it  indicated  a 
sensitive  devotion  to  the  behests  of  our  constitution.  Con 
gress  met  whilst  our  troops  were  encamped  at  Corpus 
Christi,  as  an  army  of  observation,  whose  hostile,  though 
protective  character,  was  unquestionable ;  yet  our  represen 
tatives  neither  ordered  its  return  nor  refused  it  supplies. 
This  denoted  a  willingness  to  sanction  measures  which 
might  either  pacify  Mexico,  or  impose  upon  that  republic 
the  immediate  alternative  of  war.  It  is  not  improbable  that 
congress  would  have  adopted  such  a  course,  because,  ac 
cording  to  the  pretensions  of  Mexico,  our  troops  had  already 
invaded  her  domains.  This  is  an  important  view  of  the 
question  which  should  not  be  passed  by  silently.  Mexico, 
it  must  be  remembered,  never  relinquished  her  right  to  re 
conquer  Texas,  but  always  claimed  the  whole  province  as 
her  own,  asserting  a  determination  to  regard  its  union  with 
our  confederacy  as  justifiable  cause  of  war.  The  joint-re 
solution,  alone,  was  therefore  a  belligerent  act  of  the  con 
gress  of  the  United  States,  sufficient,  according  to  the  doc 
trine  of  Mexico,  to  compel  hostile  retaliation.  But,  more 
over,  as  the  entire  soil  of  Texas,  from  the  Sabine  to  the 
Nueces  or  Rio  Grande  was  still  claimed  by  Mexico  as  her 
unsurrendered  country,  the  landing  of  a  single  American 
soldier  anywhere  south  of  our  ancient  boundary  with  Spain, 
was  quite  as  hostile  an  invasion  of  Mexican  territory  as  the 
4  passage  of  our  army  from  Corpus  Christi  to  Point  Isabel. 


120  HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

Occasions  upon  which  the  eminent  right  of  self  protec 
tion  has  been  adopted  as  a  principle  of  action  in  the  United 
States,  are  not  wanting  in  our  political  history.  The  circum 
stances  in  all,  are  of  course  not  precisely  the  same,  but  the 
policy  is  identical.  The  conduct  of  our  government  in  re 
gard  to  General  Jackson's  invasion  of  Florida  for  the  sup 
pression  of  Indian  cruelties  may  be  referred  to.  But  con 
gress  might  have  found  a  still  more  analogous  case,  in  the 
dispute  between  Spain  and  the  United  States  as  to  the  east 
ern  limits  of  Louisiana.  Spain  alleged  that  Florida  ex 
tended  to  the  Mississippi,  embracing  what  was  then  a  wil 
derness,  but,  now,  forms  the  populous  States  of  Alabama 
and  Mississippi;  while  our  government  asserted  that  all  the 
territory  eastward  of  the  Mississippi  and  extending  to  the 
Rio  Perdido  belonged  of  right  to  us  by  virtue  of  the  treaty 
concluded  at  Paris  on  the  30th  of  April,  1803.  By  acts  of 
congress  in  1803  and  1804  the  president  was  authorized  to 
take  possession  of  the  territory  ceded  by  France,  to  establish 
a  provisional  government,  to  lay  duties  on  goods  imported 
into  it;  and,  moreover,  whenever  he  deemed  it  expedient ,  to 
erect  the  bay  and  river  Mobile  into  a  separate  district,  in 
which  he  might  establish  a  port  of  entry  and  delivery. 

In  1810,  President  Madison  believing  that  the  United 
States  had  too  long  acquiesced  in  the  temporary  continuance 
of  this  territory  under  Spanish  domain,  and  that  nothing  was 
to  be  gained  from  Spain  by  candid  discussion  and  amicable 
negotiation  for  several  years,  solved  the  difficulty  by  taking 
possession  of  Mobile  and  Baton  Rouge  and  extending  our 
jurisdiction  to  the  Perdido.  This  possession,  he  took  means 
to  ensure,  if  needful,  by  military  force.  Mr.  Madison's  con 
duct  was  assailed  in  congress  by  the  federalists  who  regarded 
it  as  an  unjustifiable  and  offensive  demonstration  against 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  121 

Spain,  but  it  was  defended  with  equal  warmth  by  the  oppo 
sition, — especially  by  Mr.  Clay, — and  the  Rio  Perdido  has 
ever  since  continued  to  form  the  western  limit  of  Florida.* 

When  nations  are  about  to  undertake  the  dread  responsi 
bility  of  war,  and  to  spread  the  sorrow  and  ruin  which  al 
ways  mark  the  pathway  of  victorious  or  defeated  armies, 
they  should  pause  to  contemplate  the  enormity  of  their  en 
terprise  as  well  as  the  principles  that  can  alone  justify  them 
in  the  sight  of  God  and  man.  Human  life  cannot  be  law 
fully  destroyed,  assailed  or  endangered  for  any  other  object 
than  that  of  just  defence  of  person  or  principle,  yet  it  is 
not  a  legal  consequence  that  defensive  wrars  are  always 
just.f 

"  It  is  the  right  of  a  State,"  said  that  profound  moralist 
and  statesman,  Sir  James  Mackintosh,  "  to  take  all  measures 
necessary  for  her  safety  if  it  be  attacked  or  threatened  from 
without :  provided  always  that  reparation  cannot  otherwise 
be  obtained ;  that  there  is  a  reasonable  prospect  of  obtain 
ing  it  by  arms ;  and  that  the  evils  of  the  contest  are  not 
probably  greater  than  the  mischiefs  of  acquiescence  in  the 
wrong;  including,  on  both  sides  of  the  deliberation,  the 
ordinary  consequences  of  the  example  as  well  as  the  imme 
diate  effects  of  the  act.  If  reparation  can  otherwise  be  ob 
tained,  a  nation  has  no  necessary,  and  therefore  no  just 
cause  of  war ;  if  there  be  no  probability  of  obtaining  it  by 
arms,  a  government  cannot,  with  justice  to  their  own  nation, 
embark  it  in  war ;  and,  if  the  evils  of  resistance  should  ap 
pear  on  the  whole  greater  than  those  of  submission,  wise 

*  Waite's  State  papers,  1809-11,  p.  261;  and  Clay's  speech  on  the  line 
of  the  Perdido. 


f  Puffendorf,  Lib.  VIII,  c.  6.— Note  by  Barbeyrac. 

16 


122  HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR    BETWEEN 

rulers  will  consider  an  abstinence  from  a  pernicious  exercise 
of  right  as  a  sacred  duty  to  their  own  subjects,  and  a  debt 
which  every  people  owes  to  the  great  commonwealth  of 
mankind,  of  which  they  and  their  enemies  are  alike  mem 
bers.  A  war  is  just  against  the  wrongdoer  when  reparation 
for  wrong  cannot  otherwise  be  obtained ;  but  is  then  only 
conformable  to  all  the  principles  of  morality  when  it  is  not 
likely  to  expose  the  nation  by  whom  it  is  levied  to  greater 
evils  than  it  professes  to  avert,  and  when  it  does  not  inflict 
on  the  nation  which  has  done  the  wrong,  sufferings  altogether 
disproportion^  to  the  extent  of  the  injury.  When  the  rulers 
of  a  nation  are  required  to  determine  a  question  of  peace  or 
war,  the  bare  justice  of  their  case  against  the  wrongdoer 
never  can  be  the  sole,  and  is  not  always  the  chief  matter  on 
which  they  are  morally  bound  to  exercise  a  conscientious 
deliberation.  Prudence  in  conducting  the  affairs  of  their 
subjects  is  in  them  a  part  of  justice." 

These  are  the  true  principles  by  which  Mexico  should 
have  judged  the  controversy  between  us,  before  she  rejected 
all  our  efforts  to  negotiate,  and  forced  our  government  to 
prepare  for  hostilities 

The  idea  of  war,  for  mere  conquest,  seems  now  to  be  ob 
solete  among  civilized  nations.  To  political  dominion,  as 
exhibited  in  the  various  governments  of  the  old  world,  and 
in  most  of  the  new,  geographical  limits  are  definitely  as 
signed.  This  fact  must,  hereafter,  greatly  modify  the  objects 
of  war,  by  narrowing  them  to  principles  instead  of  territory. 
Principles,  however,  are  always  the  fair  subjects  of  contro 
versy  for  the  diplomatic  art.  Yet  such  is  the  perversity  of 
human  nature,  that,  although  we  are  convinced  of  the  pro 
priety  and  possibility  of  adjusting  our  disputes  by  reason, 


MEXICO    AXU    THE    UNITED    STATES.  123 

we  nevertheless  go  to  war  for  these  very  principles,  and, 
after  having  done  each  other  an  incalculable  amount  of  in 
jury,  at  last  sit  down  like  cripples,  to  negotiate  the  very 
matters  which  ought  to  have  been  treated  and  terminated 
diplomatically  at  first.  It  is,  perhaps,  the  folly  of  mankind 
to  believe  that  there  is  more  wisdom  in  negotiators  and 
diplomacy  when  nations  are  lame  and  weakened  by  war  than 
when  they  are  full  of  the  vigorous  energy  and  intelligence 
of  peace ! 

NOTE. — It  may  be  useful  to  record  the  following  proclamation  of  General 
Woll,  before  annexation,  in  order  to  show,  that  the  agreements  between 
Santa  Anna  and  the  Texans  in  1836,  are  not  the  only  Mexican  documents 
in  existence  which  seemed  to  open  the  boundary  question  between  Texas 
and  Tamaulipas. 

"  Headquarters  of  the  Army  of  the  JVbrtfi,  Mier,  June  20,  1844. 

"I,  Adrian  Woll,  general  of  brigade,  &c.,  make  known: 

"1.  The  armistice  agreed  on  with  the  department  of  Texas  having  ex 
pired,  and  the  war  being,  in  consequence,  recommenced  against  the  inhabi 
tants  of  that  department,-  all  communication  with  it  ceases. 

"2.  Every  individual,  of  whatever  condition,  who  may  contravene  pro 
visions  of  the  preceding  article,  shall  be  regarded  as  a  traitor,  and  shall 
receive  the  punishment  prescribed  in  article  45,  title  ]0,  treatise  8,  of  the 
articles  of  war. 

"  3.  Every  individual  who  may  be  found  at  the  distance  of  one  league  from  the 
left  bank  of  the  Rio  Bravo,  will  be  regarded  as  a  favorer  and  accomplice  of  the 
usurpers  of  that  part  of  the  national  territory,  and  as  a  traitor  to  his  country  ; 
and,  after  a  summary  military  trial,  shall  receive  the  said  punishment. 

"  4.  Every  individual  who  may  be  comprehended  within  the  provisions 
of  the  preceding  article,  and  may  be  rash  enough  to  fly  at  the  sight  of  any 
force  belonging  to  the  supreme  government,  shall  be  pursued  until  taken, 
or  put  to  death. 

"  5.  In  consideration  of  the  situation  of  the  towns  of  La  Reda  and  Santa 
Rita  de  Ampudia,  as  well  as  of  all  the  farm  houses  beyond  the  Rio  Bravo,  I 
have  this  day  received,  from  the  supreme  government,  orders  to  determine 
the  manner  by  which  those  interested  are  to  be  protected;  but,  until 
the  determination  of  the  supreme  government  be  received,  I  warn  all 
those  who  are  beyond  the  limits  here  prescribed,  to  bring  them  within 
the  line,  or  to  abandon  them ;  as  those  who  disobey  this  order,  will  infalli 
bly  suffer  the  punishment  here  established.  ADRIAN  WOLL. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Army  marches  from  Corpus  Christi— Taylor  prepares  the  Mexicans  for  his 
advance — Description  of  the  march — Beautiful  prairie  and  desolate  sand- 
wilderness — Rattlesnakes — Chapparal — The  Arroyo  Colorado — First 
hostile  demonstrations  of  the  Mexicans — Expected  fight — Cross  the  Colo 
rado — Worth  and  Taylor  separate — True  nature  of  discipline — Charac 
ters  of  Mexican  and  American  soldiers  contrasted. 

ON  the  8th  of  March,  1846,  the  joyous  news  ran  through 
the  American  camp,  at  Corpus  Christi,  that  the  tents  were 
at  last  to  be  struck.  The  worn  out  soldiery  had  nothing  to 
regret  in  quitting  a  spot  where  their  eyes  were  only  relieved 
by  looking  from  the  dreary  sea  in  front  to  the  desolate  prai 
rie  in  the  rear.  General  Taylor  had  already  taken  means  to 
prepare  the  Mexicans  for  his  advance,  although  he  scarcely 
expected  resistance.  Respectable  citizens  from  Matamoros 
had  frequently  visited  his  camp;  and  to  all  of  those  who 
were  represented  as  possessing  influence  at  home  he  pro 
claimed  the  unhostile  feelings  of  our  government  towards 
their  country,  and  that  when  our  army  marched  southward 
it  would  not  pass  the  Rio  Grande  unless  Mexico  provoked 
war.  He  invariably  apprized  these  strangers  of  his  resolu 
tion  to  protect  the  peaceful  inhabitants  in  all  their  rights  and 
usages,  as  well  as  to  pay  for  every  thing  needed  by  his  forces 
instead  of  plundering  the  country  for  support. 

Accordingly,  on  the  morning  of  the  8th  of  the  month,  the 
advanced  guard,  composed  of  the  cavalry  and  Major  Ring- 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  125 

gold's  light  artillery, — the  whole  under  the  command  of 
Colonel  Twiggs,  and  numbering  twenty-three  officers  and 
three  hundred  and  eighty-seven  men, — took  up  its  line  of 
inarch  towards  Matamoras.  This  corps  was  succeeded  by 
the  brigades  of  infantry,  the  last  of  which  departed  on  the 
llth  followed  immediately  by  the  commandej:  in  chief  with  his 
staff.  The  weather  was  favorable;  the  roads  in  tolerable 
order;  the  troops  in  good  condition  notwithstanding  the 
winter's  hardships ;  while  a  general  spirit  of  animation  per 
vaded  the  whole  body,  inspired  as  it  was  with  the  hope  of 
adventure  in  the  neighborhood  of  an  enemy.  All,  therefore, 
departed  on  this  day  from  Corpus  Christ]  by  land,  except 
the  command  of  Major  Monroe,  who  was  to  reach  the  Bra 
zos  de  Santiago  in  transports  under  convoy  of  the  United 
States  brig  Porpoise  and  the  Woodbury.  This  officer  was 
to  embark  with  a  seige  train  and  field  battery,  in  season 
to  reach  his  destination  when  the  army  would  be  in  the  vi 
cinity  of  Point  Isabel. 

The  last  adieus  of  our  forces  to  their  dreary  winter  quar 
ter  were  by  no  means  tearful,  as  with  colors  flying  and 
music  playing,  they  crossed  the  sandy  hills  that  concealed 
it  forever  from  their  sight.  The  first  day's  march  passed 
through  alternate  patches  of  prairies  and  timber  to  the 
Nueces ;  but,  on  the  two  next,  these  sad  wastes  were  ex 
changed  for  splendid  fields  blossoming  with  flowers  of  every 
hue.  A  delicious  fragrance  filled  the  air,  and  the  whole 
surface  of  the  earth  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  seemed 
covered  with  a  beautiful  carpet.  The  edge  of  the  horizon, 
in  every  direction,  was  crowded  with  wild  animals.  On 
one  side  thousands  of  mustangs  curvetted  over  the  gentle 
elevations  of  the  rolling  prairie;  on  another  herds  of  deer 
might  be  seen  standing  for  a  moment  filled  with  wonder  at 
the  unwonted  sight  of  human  beings,  and  then  bounding  off 


126  HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR    BETWEEN 

until  they  were  lost  in  the  vast  distance.  Beautiful  ante 
lopes,  nimble  as  the  wind,  were  beheld  in  countless  num 
bers,  while  pecarys  and  wild  bulls  rushed  in  droves  across 
the  path  of  our  men.  But,  on  the  fourth  day  of  the  march, 
this  scene  of  enchantment  suddenly  vanished.  Uncultivated 
prairies  and  immense  herds  of  savage  beasts  had  already 
testified  the  abandoned  state  of  the  country;  yet  the  region 
our  forces  now  entered  disclosed  the  frightful  "nakedness 
of  the  land."  The  water  became  exceedingly  bad,  and 
there  was  scarcely  fuel  enough  for  culinary  purposes.  The 
blooming  vegetation  of  the  preceding  days  was  exchanged 
for  sands  through  which  the  weary  men  and  cattle  toiled 
with  extreme  difficulty.  Salt  lagunes  spread  out  on  every 
side.  At  each  step  the  fatigued  soldier  plunged  ankle- deep 
in  the  yielding  soil,  while  a  scorching  sun  shone  over  him 
and  not  a  breath  of  air  relieved  his  sufferings.  At  times,  a 
verdant  forest  loomed  up  along  the  heated  horizon,  fringed 
by  limpid  lakes,  and  our  wearied  columns  moved  on  gaily, 
cheated,  again  and  again,  by  the  hope  of  shade  and  water. 
Suddenly  the  beautiful  groves  dwindled  into  jagged  clumps 
of  thorns  or  aloes,  and  the  fairy  lakes  changed  to  salt  and 
turbid  lagunes.  "  The  wormwood  star  had  fallen  on  every 
thing  and  turned  the  waters  to  bitterness."  The  plant 
whose  piercing  spines  and  sword-like  leaves  have  entitled  it 
to  the  name  of  the  "  Spanish  bayonet,"  was  the  hermit 
shrub  of  this  dreadful  Zaharah.  Around  its  roots  the  snakes 
lurked  arid  crawled.  Whenever  the  soldiers'  path  was  un 
impeded  by  these  annoyances,  scarifying  his  limbs  as  he  ad 
vanced,  the  ground  seemed  heated  and  sinking  like  the 
scorice  of  Vesuvius.  Man  and  beast  sank  exhausted  and 
panting  on  the  earth.  The  want  and  value  of  delicious 
water  are  never  known  till  we  pass  a  day  like  this  under  the 
burning  rays  of  a  tropical  sun,  toiling  on  foot  over  a  scorched 


MEXICO  AND  THE  UNITED  STATES.         127 

and  arid  soil  without  refreshment!  At  length  the  word  ran 
along  the  line  that  it  was  approaching  a  lake  whose  waters 
were  not  salt.  "  Under  the  excitement  of  hope  the  faint  and 
exhausted  infantry  pressed  onward  with  renewed  life,  while, 
some  miles  ahead,  the  artillery  were  seen  to  halt  enjoying 
the  luxury  of  water.  As  the  soldiers  reached  it  all  discipline 
was  forgotten;  their  arms  were  thrown  down,  and  they 
rushed  boldly  in,  thrusting  their  heads  beneath  the  waves  in 
their  desire  to  quench  the  thirst  that  was  consuming  their 
vitals."* 

Such  is  the  natural  aspect  and  character  of  the  desolate  re 
gion  between  the  Nueces  and  the  Rio  Grande, — a  chequered 
wilderness  of  sand  and  verdure, — fit  only  for  the  wild  beasts 
that  inhabit  it,  and  properly  described  in  former  days,  as  a 
a  suitable  frontier  between  the  great  republics  of  North 
America. 

On  the  21st  of  March,  all  our  forces  concentrated  on  the 
Arroyo  Colorado, — a  salt  stream  or  lagune  nearly  one  hun 
dred  yards  broad,  and  so  deep  as  to  be  scarcely  fordable, — 
situated  about  thirty  miles  north  of  Matamoros.  Had  the 
enemy  attacked  us  here  his  assault  would  have  been  for 
midable,  wearied  as  were  our  troops  with  the  distressing 
marches  of  previous  days.  Bold,  bluff  banks,  twenty  or 
thirty  feet  high,  hem  in  the  stream,  whose  borders,  on  both 
sides,  are  lined,  for  a  considerable  breadth,  with  impervious 
thickets  of  chapparal.  These  thorny  groves  are  to  be  found 
in  all  sections  of  the  south,  varying  in  size  from  a  few  yards 
to  a  mile  in  thickness,  so  closely  interlaced  and  matted  with 
briers  and  bushes  as  to  prevent  the  passage  of  animals  larger 
than  a  hare.  They  are  the  sorest  annoyances  of  travellers 
in  Mexico,  and  often  force  the  wayfarer  to  make  a  long  cir- 
*  Army  on  the  Rio  Grande,  p.  13. 


128  HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR    BETWEEN 

cuit  to  pass  their  limits,  though  they  reward  him  for  his 
trouble  by  supplying  an  abundance  of  the  tuna — a  luscious 
fruit  of  the  prickly  pear, — which  grows  luxuriantly  on  these 
natural  and  impenetrable  walls. 

Such,  with  the  barrier  of  the  stream,  was  the  fortification 
nature  had  interposed  for  the  safe  guard  of  Mexico  at  the 
Arroyo  Colorado.  But  the  inert  natives  seemed  indisposed 
to  take  advantage  of  those  rare  defences,  though  not  without 
some  hostile  demonstration  which  the  resolute  conduct  of 
Taylor  soon  overcame. 

When  our  advanced  corps  encamped  near  the  banks  of 
the  stream  on  the  19th,  an  armed  reconnoisance  was  sent 
forward  to  examine  the  country.  On  reaching  the  river,  our 
scouts  discovered  that  the  opposite  side  was  lined  with  a 
body  of  rancher o  cavalry,  from  whom  they  learned,  although 
no  opposition  was  made  to  our  examination  of  the  ford, 
that  we  should  be  treated  as  enemies  if  we  attempted  to  pass 
it.  Impossible  as  it  was  to  ascertain  accurately  the  amount 
of  the  opposing  force,  our  men  were  prepared  for  the  worst, 
and,  at  an  early  hour  of  the  20th,  the  cavalry  and  first  bri 
gade  of  infantry  were  thrown  in  position,  at  the  ford,  while 
the  batteries  of  field  artillery  were  formed  so  as  to  sweep 
the  opposite  bank.  All  was  now  anxiety  and  eagerness 
among  our  gallant  men.  Far  along  the  borders  of  the  river, 
above  and  below,  the  bugles  of  the  enemy  were  heard  ring 
ing  out  in  the  clear  morning  air.  But  the  hope  of  frighten 
ing  our  men  by  overwhelming  numbers  was  of  no  avail. 
Our  pioneers  worked  steadily  on  the  road  they  were  cutting 
to  the  brink  of  the  river;  and,  when  all  was  ready  for  the 
passage,  the  adjutant  general  of  the  Mexican  forces  appeared 
on  the  ground  for  a  final  effort  of  intimidation.  With  Span 
ish  courtesy,  he  informed  our  general  that  positive  orders 
were  given  to  his  men  to  fire  upon  our  forces  if  they  at- 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  129 

tempted  to  cross,  and  that  our  passage  of  the  river  would  be 
considered  a  declaration  of  war.  At  the  same  time  he  placed 
in  Taylor's  hands  a  warlike  proclamation  issued  by  Mejia 
at  Matamoros  on  the  18th,  containing  unequivocal  manifes 
tations  of  the  intention  of  the  Mexicans  to  molest  us. 

Our  commander-in-chief,  however,  was  not  to  be  deterred 
by  these  threats  from  the  fulfilment  of  the  orders  he  had  re 
ceived  to  pass  the  Rio  Grande.  He  answered  the  officer 
that  he  would  "  immediately  cross  the  river,  and  that  if  his 
hostile  party  showed  itself  on  the  other  bank  after  our  pas 
sage  was  commenced,  it  would  unquestionably  receive  the 
fire  of  our  artillery."  In  the  meantime  the  second  brigade, 
which  had  encamped  some  miles  in  our  rear,  came  up  and 
formed  on  the  extreme  right ;  and,  as  the  road  to  the  river 
bank  was  by  this  time  completed,  the  order  to  advance  was 
given. 

It  was  a  moment  of  intense  excitement.  What  forces 
might  not  lurk  behind  the  dense  walls  of  chapparal,  ready 
to  dash  upon  our  ranks  as  they  deployed  on  the  other  side? 
Our  artillerists  stood  to  their  aimed  and  loaded  guns.  The 
Mexicans  were  doubtless  eager  and  panting  for  resistance 
in  the  rear  of  the  bristling  plants  that  lined  the  lofty  parapet 
of  the  river's  bank.  Every  eye  was  strained  upon  the  first 
daring  rank  that  was  to  plunge  into  the  stream  .as  a  "  forlorn 
hope."  Mexico  would  fight  now  if  ever;  for  her  mettle 
was  as  yet  untried !  For  an  instant,  profound  silence  reigned 
along  the  anxious  line  which  the  next  moment  might  be  in 
volved  in  the  fire  of  battle.  Suddenly  the  gallant  Worth 
spurred  to  the  head  of  our  troops,  and  dashing  boldly  into 
the  flood,  waved  them  on  to  the  further  shore.  But  not  a 
shot  was  fired  by  the  recreant  foe,  and  as  our  men  rose 
shouting  from  the  water  and  rushed  up  the  steeps  of  the  op 
posite  bank  they  beheld  the  valiant  Mexicans  in  brisk  retreat 


130  HISTORY    OP    THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

towards  Matamoros!  The  fugitives  were  unmolested; — a 
laugh  of  scorn  and  pity  ran  through  our  ranks; — and,  before 
nightfall,  the  first  and  second  brigades  of  infantry,  with  a 
train  of  two  hundred  wagons  had  crossed  the  stream  and 
encamped  three  miles  from  its  banks. 

This  was  an  important  affair,  as  it  was  the  first  in  which 
the  Mexicans  showed  themselves  in  a  decidedly  hostile  atti 
tude;  and  it  furnished  an  excellent  opportunity  to  try  the 
mettle  of  our  men  both  in  spirit  and  discipline.  Not  a  sol 
dier  faltered. 

On  the  morning  of  the  23d  of  March,  General  Taylor 
departed  with  his  whole  army  from  the  camp  near  the  Colo 
rado.  After  a  march  of  fifteen  miles  he  reached,  on  the 
24th,  a  position  on  the  route  from  Matamoros  to  Point  Isa 
bel, — distant  about  eighteen*  miles  from  the  former  and  ten 
from  the  latter, — where  he  left  the  infantry  brigades  under 
the  command  of  General  Worth,  with  instructions  to  press 
on  in  the  direction  of  Matamoros  until  a  suitable  position 
for  encampment  was  obtained,  at  which  he  might  halt,  hold 
ing  the  route  in  observation,  whilst  the  commander-in-chief 
proceeded  with  the  cavalry  to  Point  Isabel.  At  that  post 
General  Taylor  expected  to  meet  the  transports  from  Corpus 
Christi  with  the  force  under  Major  Monroe,  and  to  make  the 
necessary  arrangements  for  the  establishment  and  defence 
of  a  depot. 

As  soon  as  the  army  left  the  Colorado  a  new  object,  of 
more  interest  in  natural  history  than  military  memoirs,  pre 
sented  itself  to  .the  notice  of  our  troops.  The  soil  was  co 
vered  with  a  long  wiry  grass  among  which  glided  immense 
numbers  of  huge  rattlesnakes,  more  appalling  to  our  soldiers 
than  the  Mexicans.  The  country  literally  swarmed  with 
serpents.  From  the  Colorado  to  within  a  few  miles  of  Point 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  131 

Isabel  their  warning  rattle  was  heard  on  all  sides.  They 
crept  between  the  ranks  as  our  men  marched  through  the 
long  herbage,  and  at  night  coiled  themselves  comfortably 
under  their  blankets  for  warmth, 

Familiar  as  we  are  with  the  campaigns  of  Frederick  and 
Napoleon,  and  willing  to  record  as  classical  the  great 
deeds  of  the  old  world's  heroes,  we  are  still  often  loath 
to  do  justice  to  the  brave  men  in  our  own  country  who  have 
served  the  State  so  zealously  in  Florida  and  Mexico.  It  is 
not  simple  bravery  in  battle  that  commends  a  soldier  to  ad 
miration,  for  few  are  cowards  when  the  excitement  of  action 
hurries  them  headlong  among  their  foes  amid  the  shouts  and 
thunder  of  actual  carnage.  But  it  is  the  preparatory  disci 
pline  that  tests  a  military  character.  The  camp  and  the 
march  are  the  soldier's  training.  The  dreary  winter- quar 
ter  passed  in  patient  service,  and  the  wearying  advance  over 
burning  plains  or  snowy  mountains,  are  the  real  touchstones 
of  courage,  and  prove  those  powers  of  endurance  and  sub 
ordination  which  make  resistance  staunch  and  stubborn. 
These  are  the  sources  of  discipline ;  and  it  was  with  troops 
that  had  borne  the  winter  hardships  at  Corpus  Christi,  I 
have  described,  and  made  the  short  but  arduous  march  to 
Point  Isabel,  that  Taylor  felt  sure  of  victory.  They  had 
encountered  extraordinary  fatigue,  and  yet  were  ready  at  a 
moment's  notice  for  battle  without  flinching.  With  such 
schooling  an  army  becomes  a  gigantic  instrument  moving 
with  the  accuracy  of  clock-work,  put  in  motion  by  the  gen 
eral's  genius.  It  can  endure  as  well  as  perform  all  he  re 
quires,  and  he  knows  that  the  result  of  a  battle  depends 
alone  on  his  nurnbers,  his  position,  or  his  individual  skill  in 
military  combination.  The  common  soldier  and  the  officer 


132  HISTORY    OF   THE   WAR   BETWEEN 

thus  react  upon  each  other,  and  the  electric  chain  of  mutual 
confidence  makes  success  an  impulse. 

The  American  and  the  Mexican  soldier  are  essentially  dif 
ferent,  though  both,  according  to  the  report  of  distinguished 
officers,  are  almost  equally  brave.  In  the  anglo-saxon  race 
bravery  is  the  balance  between  prudence  and  courage,  exer 
cised  with  an  indomitable  resolution  to  achieve  a  desired  end. 
The  American  soldier  is  fearless,  yet  he  values  life  and  seeks 
to  protect  it.  His  object  is  to  subdue  or  slay  his  foe,  still 
he  determines  to  avoid,  if  possible,  a  fatal  catastrophe.  This 
renders  him  intrepid  while  it  teaches  the  importance  of  dis 
cipline  and  obedience  to  resolute  and  skilful  officers.  He 
perceives  at  once  the  object  to  be  secured  or  the  thing  to  be 
done,  and  he  marches  on  with  the  mingled  caution  and  spirit 
requisite  for  success. 

It  may  be  said  that  a  certain  degree  of  timidity  is  neces 
sary  in  every  balanced  character  in  order  to  ensure  reflec 
tion,  for  natural  courage,  unaided  by  sensitiveness,  would 
render  it  rash.  But  the  Mexican  soldier  seems  to  be  guided 
by  a  different  system,  and  to  be  brave  without  either  pru 
dence  or  enduring  discipline.  He  is  trained  in  manoeuvres ; 
and,  believing  that  when  he  masters  his  manual  he  is  equal 
to  all  military  emergencies,  he  supposes  that  a  battle  is  little 
more  than  a  parade.  As  Mexican  troops  are  rather  politi 
cal  engines,  designed  for  the  domestic  police  of  cities,  than 
for  actual  service  in  the  field,  the  soldier  is  more  of  a  play 
thing  than  a  tool  or  weapon.  Vague,  ideal  notions  of  Ro 
man  patriotism,  are  infused  into  his  mind  by  the  demagogues 
of  the  army  in  bombastic  proclamations,  and  he  imagines  it 
better  to  perish  than  surrender  to  his  foe.  But  this  murder 
ous  doctrine  of  "revenge  or  death"  serves  rather  to  animate 
him  before  battle  than  to  carry  him  steadily  through  its  perils. 
He  has  the  ability  to  perceive  the  beauty  of  abstract  virtue, 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  133 

but  lacks  the  sustained  energy,  the  profound  endurance,  to 
realize  it.  He  rushes  onward  without  deliberation,  or  re 
gard  of  consequences.  An  international  war  is,  in  his  esti 
mation,  a  personal  not  a  political  quarrel.  A  brutal  ferocity 
marks  every  headlong  movement,  and  deprives  him  of  the 
control  of  reason.  Besides  this,  life,  has  not  the  same  value 
to  a  Mexican  as  to  an  American  warrior,  for  the  objects  and 
hopes  of  their  lives  are  incapable  of  comparison.  One  lives 
for  practical  liberty  and  progress,  the  other's  existence  is  a 
mere  strife  for  bread  under  military  despotism.  A  Mahome- 
dan  fatalism — derived,  perhaps,  from  his  Moorish  kindred — 
tinges  the  nature  of  a  Mexican,  and  the  impulsive  blood  of 
a  tropical  climate  subjects  him  almost  exclusively  to  his  in 
stincts.  Hence  Spanish  wars  have  been  long  and  sanguin 
ary  butcheries,  while  their  civil  dissensions  are  the  feted  fer 
ment  of  corruption. 

The  Mexican,  hot  and  fretful  in  controversy,  is  ever  quick 
and  sometimes  secret,  in  ridding  himself  of  his  foe; — the 
American  is  equally  prompt  with  his  pistol,  but  gives  his 
insulting  enemy  an  equal  chance.  A  sudden  conflict  with 
knives  ends  a  Spanish  rencontre  or  dispute;  while  periods 
of  deliberation  and  cool  arrangements  precede  the  fatal  field 
between  our  countrymen.  The  American  officer  is  scienti 
fically  educated  in  military  schools  and  leads  his  men  to 
battle.  The  Mexican  is  ignorant  of  all  but  ordinary  drills, 
and  either  follows  his  impulsive  squadrons,  or,  flies  at  the 
approach  of  personal  danger.  The  one  has  nerve  and  en 
durance,  the  other  impulse  and  passion;  hence,  while  the 
Mexican  strikes  his  blow  and  retreats  to  his  lair  if  foiled,  the 
American,  equally  unchanged  by  victory  or  defeat,  moves 
onward  with  indomitable  purpose  until  his  object  is  suc 
cessfully  accomplished.  The  one  dwindles  too  often  into 


134  HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

the  cruel  assassin  or  relentless  persecutor, — the  other,  as 
frequently,  attains  the  dignity  of  a  clement  hero. 

These  general  observations  apply,  of  course,  only  to  the 
masses,  for  truly  brave  and  patriotic  men  exist  in  all  coun 
tries,  and  nowhere  are  the  examples  of  heroic  qualities  more 
conspicuous  than  among  the  Spanish  races.  The  fault  lies 
more  in  temperament  than  in  soul.  An  equipoise  between 
intellect  and  passion  is  alone  deficient  in  the  nature  of  the 
Mexican  people,  for  the  savage  has  not  been  entirely  extir 
pated  from  the  mingled  blood  of  Indian  and  Spaniard. 

When  the  remarkable  energy  of  men,  born  in  genial  cli 
mates,  is  tempered  by  self  restraint,  it  produces  that  urbane 
and  chivalrous  character  which  once  made  war  the  school 
of  gentlemen.  But  the  modern  ideas  of  liberty  and  patri 
otism  have  deprived  standing  armies  of  all  exclusive  claim 
to  national  protection;  and,  as  long  as  each  citizen  feels  that 
the  defence  of  his  native  land  or  of  his  country's  rights  de 
pends  upon  himself,  the  volunteer  as  well  as  the  regular  will 
be  prompt  to  discharge  his  military  duty  with  skill,  alacrity 
and  irresistible  resolution. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


Character  of  Mexican  diplomacy — Genius  of  the  Spanish  language — Pa- 
redes  's  proclamation — Hostilities  authorized  by  him — Taylor  goes  to  Isa 
bel — Description  of  the  Brasos  St.  Jago  and  Point  Isabel — burning  of  the 
custom-house — Made  a  depot  and  fortified — Taylor  and  Worth  unite  and 
plant  the  American  flag  opposite  Metamoros — Worth's  interview  with 
La  Vega  and  Cesares — Fruitless  efforts  of  our  generals  to  establish  ami 
ty — Description  of  the  country  round  Matamoros — appearance  of  the 
town. 

The  qualities  which  characterize  the  Mexican  soldier,  as 
described  in  the  last  chapter,  mark  also  the  statesman  of  that 
country.  Their  loud  and  vain-glorious  professions  of  re 
solve;  their  bombastic  proclamations;  their  short,  passion 
ate  and  revolutionary  governments;  their  personal  rivalries 
and  universal  anarchy,  denote  impulsive  tempers  utterly  in 
capable  of  sustained  self-rule  or  resistance.  To  those  who 
are  familiar  with  Mexican  history,  this  is  not  a  novel  fact, 
yet  it  has  been  astonishingly  manifested  in  the  war  between 
our  countries.  It  would  be  a  tedious  task  to  recount  the 
various  manifestos  and  despatches  that  were  written  to  con 
trol  and  satisfy  public  sentiment  in  regard  to  the  pending 
difficulties.  Diplomacy  is  the  weapon  of  weak  powers,  and 
the  pen  is  a  most  important  implement  when  defeat,  inac 
tion  or  incompetency  are  to  be  excused  to  the  Mexicans. 
There  is  something  perhaps  in  the  genius  of  the  Spanish 
language  that  renders  it  peculiarly  appropriate  to  appease 
the  vanity  of  those  who  speak  it.  The  natural  vehicle,  of 
eloquence,  its  magic  words,  its  magnificent  phrases  and  its 


136  HISTORY    OP   THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

sonorous  sentences  march  along  in  solemn  and  pompous 
procession,  and  compel  the  attention  of  ever}'  listener. 
Simple  sentiments,  clothed  in  the  expressions  of  this  beau 
tiful  tongue  assume  new  and  striking  shapes,  and  the  judg 
ment  is  charmed  or  swayed  by  sympathy  with  the  ear. 

The  statesmen  of  Mexico  are  aware  of  these  extraordi 
nary  advantages,  and  whether  they  have  to  account  for  a 
lost  battle,  tranquillize  a  passionate  mob,  or  satisfy  an  im 
portunate  diplomat,  they  are  equally  ready  to  resort  to  the 
armory  of  their  resounding  language  for  defence. 

We  have  already  seen  that  Paredes  overthrew  Herrera's 
administration  by  means  of  the  Texan  question  and  oppo 
sition  to  negotiation  with  our  government.  When  Gene 
ral  Taylor  advanced  towards  the  Rio  Grande  this  chieftain 
was  still  president  and  quite  as  unable  to  fulfil  the  promises 
to  repel  us  as  his  predecessor's  had  been  in  1844  and  1845. 
Feeling,  under  the  peculiar  views  of  the  controversy  they 
entertained,  that  the  honor  of  their  country  required  our  ex 
pulsion  from  Texas,  they  had  announced  and  pledged  this 
auspicious  result  to  the  people.  But  at  the  moment  when 
all  these  extraordinary  boasts  were  made,  they  were,  doubt 
less,  designed  only  to  serve  a  temporary  purpose,  under  the 
hope  that  some  fortuitous  circumstance  might  occur  which 
would  exhonerate  them  from  war.  I  have  heretofore  stated 
that  the  Mexicans  were  encouraged  in  resistance  by  the  be 
lief  of  impending  difficulties  with  England.  In  addition  to 
this,  Paredes  probably  relied  on  foreign  interference  in  con 
sequence  of  his  monarchical  schemes;  nor  was  it  until  the 
spring  and  summer  of  1846,  that  all  these  prospects  were 
blighted  by  the  energetic  course  of  our  senate  and  the  dis 
cretion  of  the  British  cabinet  in  regard  to  Oregon.  But  it 
was  "thjn  -too  late  to  retreat,  for  hostilities  had  already 
commenced. 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  137 

Loud  as  were  the  Mexicans  in  their  fulminations  against 
our  alleged  usurpation,  I  am  inclined  to  believe  they  never 
seriously  contemplated  the  invasion  of  Texas,  but  hoped 
either  to  let  the  question  sleep  for  many  years  in  the  port 
folios  of  negotiators  whilst  a  rigorous  non-intercourse  was 
preserved,  or  to  solicit,  finally,  the  mediatorial  influence  of 
Great  Britain  and  France  in  order  to  prevent  war  if  our  con 
gress  intimated  a  disposition  to  declare  it.  This  opinion  is 
founded  upon  the  remarkable  proclamation  issued  in  Mexico 
on  the  21st  of  March,  1846,  by  General  Paredes.*  His  lan 
guage  is  still  decided  in  regard  to  Mexican  rights  over 
Texas;  but  he  asserts  that  "the  authority  to  declare  war 
against  the  United  States  is  not  vested  in  him"  and  that  the 
congress  of  the  nation,  which  is  about  to  assemble,  must 
consider  what  is  necessary  in  the  approaching  conflict. 
This  proclamation  was  issued  in  the  capital  after  it  was 
known  that  our  army  was  advancing  to  the  Rio  Grande,  and 
on  the  very  day  when  Mr.  SlidelPs  passports  were  sent  him 
at  Jalapa  by  the  Mexican  government.  But  between  the 
21st  of  March  and  the  23d  of  April  the  provisional  presi 
dent's  opinion  of  his  rights  underwent  a  change,  for,  on  that 
day,  he  published  another  proclamation  in  which  he  asserts 
that  he  had  "sent  orders  to  the  general  in  chief  of  the  divi 
sion  of  the  northern  frontier  to  act  in  hostility  against  the 
army  which  is  in  hostility  against  us ;  to  oppose  war  to  the 
enemy  which  wars  upon  us;"  though,  in  conclusion,  he  an 
nounces  that  still  he  "does  not  declare  war  against  the  gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States  of  America."!  Thus,  under 
the  masked  name  of  hostilities,  the  Mexican  government  au 
thorised  the  first  war-like  blows  to  be  struck,  because,  as  it 
alleged,  we  had  invaded  the  national  domain  by  marching 

*  See  Mexico  as  it  was,  &c.,  4th  ed.  p.  407. 
f  Diario  oficial — April  24. 

18 


138  HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

to  Matamores.  It  was  the  forced  realization  of  all  those 
gasconading  manifestos,  which  for  the  last  two  years  had 
breathed  war  and  defiance  against  the  United  States.  Such, 
then,  was  the  actual  origin  of  the  collision,  for  the  troops 
and  officers  of  General  Taylor  religiously  abstained  from 
acts  of  military  violence,  and  confined  themselves  exclu 
sively  to  the  defence  of  the  territory  they  were  directed  to 
hold.  That  mere  protection  was  the  undoubted  purpose  of 
our  government,  will  not  be  questioned  by  the  reader  when 
he  recollects  the  smallness  of  our  army,  and  its  entire  want 
of  preparation  to  molest  or  invade  a  nation  of  more  than 
seven  millions  of  inhabitants. 

In  the  last  chapter,  General  Taylor  was  left  on  his  way  to 
Point  Isabel,  while  Worth  moved  in  the  direction  of  Mata- 
moros.*  During  the  march  of  our  column  towards  the  sea 
shore  it  was  approached,  on  its  right  flank,  by  a  party  of 
Mexicans  bearing  a  white  flag,  which  proved  to  be  a  civil 
deputation  from  Matamoros  desiring  an  interview  with  the 
commander-in-chief.  General  Taylor  apprised  the  represen 
tatives  of  Tamaulipas  that  he  would  halt  at  the  first  suitable 
place  on  the  road  to  afford  them  a  reception ;  but  it  was 

*  I  desire  it  may  be  remembered  that  the  important  facts  related  by  me 
in  regard  to  our  military  and  diplomatic  movements  are  all  given  upon  the 
authority  of  official  papers  published  by  congress.  The  reader  who  wishes 
to  verify  them  will  do  well  to  provide  himself  with  the  volumes  of  execu 
tive  documents,  for  I  shall  not  deem  it  necessary  to  incumber  the  margins 
of  my  pages  with  continual  references.  I  have  been  scrupulously  accu 
rate  in  all  my  quotations  from  American  authorities,  and  have  observed 
the  same  course  in  regard  to  the  Mexican  reports,  proclamations  and  mani 
festos.  See  especially,  (for  this  volume,)  Senate  doc.  No.  337,  29th  cong. 
1st  sess.— H.  of  R.  doc.  No.  197,  id.— Senate  doc.  No.  378,  id.— Senate 
doc.  No  388,  id.— H.  of  R.  doc.  No.  4,  29th  cong.  2d  sess.— H.  of  R.  doc. 
No.  19,  id.— H.  of  R.  doc.  No.  42,  id.— Senate  doc.  No.  107,  id.— H.  of  R 
doc.  No.  119,  id. 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  139 

found  necessary  to  pass  on  to  Point  Isabel  without  delay  in 
consequence  of  the  want  of  water  elsewhere  on  the  route. 
The  deputation,  however,  declined  accompanying  our  forces 
towards  their  destination,  and  halting  a  few  miles  from  the 
Point,  sent  a  formal  protest  of  the  prefect  of  the  northern 
district  of  Tamaulipas  against  our  occupation  of  the  dis 
puted  country.  At  this  moment  it  was  discovered  that  the 
buildings  of  Point  Isabel  were  in  flames.  The  retreating 
Mexicans  had  set  fire  to  the  edifices  to  prevent  our  occupa 
tion;  and,  as  General  Taylor  considered  this  a  direct  and 
vexatious  evidence  of  hostility,  and  was  unwilling  to  be 
trifled  with  by  the  tools  of  the  military  authorities  of  Mata- 
moros,  he  dismissed  the  deputation  with  the  information 
that  he  would  answer  the  protest  when  he  was  opposite 
the  city. 

The  cavalry  was  forthwith  pushed  on  to  the  burning  town 
in  time  to  arrest  the  fire  which  consumed  but  three  or  four 
houses ;  yet  the  inhabitants  had  already  fled,  and  the  officer, 
who  committed  the  incendiary  act  under  the  orders,  it  is 
said,  of  General  Mejia,  was  nowhere  to  be  found. 

As  our  troops  entered  the  village  they  were  gratified  to 
find  that  the  transports  from  Corpus  Christi  had  exactly  an 
swered  their  land  movement,  and  that  the  steamers  had  ar 
rived  in  the  harbor  with  the  convoy  close  in  their  rear,  only 
a  few  hours  before  our  forces  entered  from  the  desert. 
General  Taylor  immediately  directed  the  engineers  to  ex 
amine  the  ground  with  a  view  of  tracing  lines  of  defence 
and  strengthening  a  position,  which  he  decided  should  form 
the  great  depot  of  our  forces. 

Point  Isabel  is  approached  from  the  sea  through  the  Bra 
zos  de  Santiago.  It  is  a  wild  and  desolate  sea  coast,  de 
fended  by  bars  and  strewn  with  wrecks.  In  former  years, 


140  HISTORY    OF   THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

a  small  Mexican  village  and  fort,  containing  a  couple  of 
cannons,  stood  upon  the  Brazos  Point,  but  during  one  of 
those  terrific  storms  which  ravage  the  Mexican  coast,  the 
sea  rose  above  the  frail  barrier  of  shifting  sand,  and  when 
the  tempest  subsided,  it  was  discovered  that  the  village 
and  fortification  had  been  engulphed  beneath  the  waves. 
Few  places  are  more  inhospitable  on  the  American  coast 
than  the  bar  of  Brazos.  There  is  no  friendly  shore  under 
whose  protecting  lee  ships  may  seek  safety  during  the  awful 
hurricanes  that  so  often  descend  upon  them  without  a  mo 
ments  warning.  But  when  a  vessel  has  fairly  passed  the 
entrance,  she  moves  along  securely  over  the  waters  of  the 
bay,  and  anchors  under  cover  of  the  sand  hills  to  the  left 
whilst  her  passengers  and  freight  are  landed  in  boats  or 
lighters. 

On  a  bluff  promontory  jutting  out  into  the  bay  and  slop 
ing  gradually  inland,  stands  the  village  of  Isabel.  Its 
houses  denoted  the  character  of  its  people.  The  spars  of 
wrecked  vessels,  a  few  reeds,  and  the  debris  of  a  stormy 
shore,  thatched  with  grass  and  sea  weed,  formed  the  mate 
rials  of  which  they  were  built,  while  a  vagabond  race,  fifty 
or  sixty  in  number,  constituted  the  official  but  smuggling 
population,  which  was  prepared  to  protect  the  revenue  of 
Mexico  or  receive  bribes  from  contrabandists,  as  their  inter 
ests  might  dictate.  A  certain  Senor  Rodriguez  was  the 
captain  of  this  important  port  at  the  period  of  our  occupa 
tion;  and,  being  a  person  equally  ready  to  take  pay  from 
importers  or  exporters  of  goods  as  well  as  to  receive  further 
compensation  for  concealing  his  roguery  from  the  govern 
ment,  he  deemed  it  his  duty,  as  a  faithful  officer,  to  destroy 
the  custom  house  by  the  conflagration  that  incensed  General 
Taylor  against  the  prefect  of  Tamaulipas.*  Such  was 
*  Our  army  on  the  Rio  Grande,  chap.  y. 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  141 

Point  Isabel  and  its  vagrant  inhabitants,  when  abandoned  to 
our  forces,  and  adopted  as  a  depot. 

While  the  engineers  were  engaged  in  fortifying  a  position, 
which  was  soon  to  become  of  so  much  importance  in  the 
war,  General  Taylor  rejoined  the  division  under  Worth's 
command,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  28th  of  March,  the 
order  was  given  for  all  the  columns  to  advance  towards 
Matamoros.  At  half  past  six  the  movement  began.  The 
arms  were  closely  inspected,  and  every  man  was  directed  to 
be  on  the  alert  in  case  of  sudden  attack.  Yet  no  symptom 
of  fear  was  exhibited  in  our  ranks,  while  the  squadrons 
pressed  on  gaily,  with  merry  songs  and  pleasant  chat. 
About  a  mile  from  the  Rio  Grande  they  saw  the  first  house 
on  their  route  of  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from 
Corpus  Christi.  The  dark  eyed  Mexicans  were  lounging 
with  apparent  indifference  about  their  doors,  and  returned 
civil  answers  to  our  inquiries.  Soon  after,  the  city  of  Mata 
moros  came  in  sight;  and,  with  bands  playing,  and  regi 
mental  colors  flying  to  the  wind,  we  arrived  opposite  the 
town  at  noon.  From  the  head  quarters  of  General  Mejia, 
the  Mexican  standard  was  displayed,  and,  in  a  short  time  a 
temporary  flagstaff,  prepared  by  the  eighth  regiment,  under 
the  superintendence  of  Lieut.  Col.  Belknap,  was  raised  aloft 
bearing  the  American  ensign;  but  no  other  manifestation  of 
joy  was  given  than  by  the  national  airs  which  were  pealed 
forth  from  our  regimental  bands.  The  moment  our  flag  was 
displayed,  it  was  saluted,  from  Matamoros,  by  the  consulate 
flags  of  France  and  England ;  while  the  absence  of  our  own 
banner  from  the  opposite  shore  denoted  the  departure  or  re 
straint  of  the  commercial  representative  of  our  Union.* 

As  soon  as  our  colors  were  raised  on  the  eastern  bank 
*  Army  on  the  Rio  Grande,  chap.  ii. 


142  HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

of  the  Rio  Grande,  General  Worth  and  his  staff  descended 
to  the  water's  edge,  bearing  a  white  flag  and  a  communica 
tion  from  the  commander-in-chief,  announcing  formally  the 
purpose  of  our  advance  to  the  dividing  stream.  General 
Taylor  believed  that  this  would  be  the  means  either  of  es 
tablishing  friendly  relations  between  the  posts,  or  of  eliciting 
the  final  decision  of  the  Mexican  government.  As  soon  as 
Worth  and  his  companions  were  perceived  from  the  oppo 
site  bank  two  cavalry  officers  crossed  with  an  interpreter. 
After  some  delay  in  parleying,  it  was  announced  that  Gen 
eral  La  Vega  would  receive  our  messenger  on  the  right 
bank  of  the  river,  to  which  he  immediately  passed,  accom 
panied  by  his  aid-de-camp  Lieutenant  Smith,  and  Lieute 
nants  Magruder,  Deas,  and  Blake,  attached  to  his  staff,  and 
Lieutenant  Knowlton  as  interpreter. 

On  arriving  at  the  Mexican  quarters,  General  Worth  was 
courteously  received  by  La  Vega  and  introduced  to  Don 
Juan  Garza,  oficial  de  defensores,  and  to  the  Licenciado 
Cesares,  who  represented  the  authorities  of  Matamoros. 
La  Vega  informed  General  Worth  that  he  had  been  directed 
to  receive  such  communications  as  might  be  presented,  and 
accompanied  his  tender  with  the  remark  that  the  march  of 
the  United  States  troops  through  a  portion  of  Tamaulipas 
was  considered  by  his  country  as  an  act  of  war. 

This  was  no  time  to  discuss  the  international  question, 
and  Worth,  properly  refraining  from  conversation  upon  so 
vexatious  a  topic,  proceeded,  as  an  act  of  courtesy,  to  read 
the  open  document  he  bore,  which  he  afterwards  withdrew 
inasmuch  as  it  had  not  been  received  personally  by  General 
Mejia  the  commander-in-chief  at  Matamoros. 

A  demand  to  see  our  consul  was  refused  by  the  Mexicans, 
and  although  we  learned  that  he  was  not  under  restraint  but 
still  continued  in  the  exercise  of  his  official  duties,  all  com- 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  143 

munication  with  that  functionary  was  peremptorily  denied. 
Thus  terminated,  unsatisfactorily,  another  effort  on  our  part 
to  employ  diplomacy  in  the  establishment  of  harmonious 
feelings  with  the  local  authorities  of  Matamoros;  and  not 
withstanding  General  Worth  was  assured  that  "Mexico  had 
not  declared  war  against  the  Union,"  and  that  "the  coun 
tries  were  still  at  peace,"  he  returned  to  the  American  camp 
with  gloomy  forebodings  for  the  future.* 

If  there  was  little  to  hope  from  the  people  of  Mexico,  or 
little  attractive  in  the  prospect  of  social  intercourse  between 
the  camp  and  town,  there  was  much  to  gratify  the  eye  of 
our  fatigued  soldiers  in  the  scenery  that  lay  before  them. 
On  their  long  and  toilsome  march  they  had  been  relieved 
from  the  dreary  wastes  of  Texas  as  soon  as  they  beheld  the 
blue  haze  hanging  over  the  distant  windings  of  the  Rio 
Grande.  The  city  of  Matamoros,  as  seen  from  the  oppo 
site  side  of  the  river,  skirts  the  stream  for  more  than  a  mile 
with  its  neat  and  comfortable  dwellings.  As  the  trade  of 
this  town  is  chiefly  carried  on  with  the  interior,  there  has 
been  no  need  of  encroaching  with  wharves  and  walls  on 
the  margin  of  the  river.  Hence  the  city  is  somewhat  re 
moved  from  the  banks,  and  embowered  amid  extensive 
groves  and  gardens,  from  the  midst  of  whose  luxuriant  fo 
liage  its  towers  and  dwellings  rise  in  broken  but  graceful 
lines.  There  is  but  little  timber  near  the  river,  which  tra 
verses  beautiful  prairies  as  it  approaches  the  sea.  The  hand 
of  culture  has  taken  these  waving  meadows  under  its  pro 
tection  ;  and,  on  all  sides  the  landscape  is  dotted  with  abun 
dant  vegetation.  The  grass  covered  banks  are  screened  by 
shrubbery  or  grazed  by  cattle;  while  the  stream,  winding 

*  See  Senate  doc.  337,  29th  cong.  1st  sess.  for  a  memorandum  of  General 
Worth's  spirited  interview  with  La  Vega  and  Cesares. 


144  HISTORY    OP   THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

along  in  easy  curves,  is  so  narrow  near  the  city  that  conver 
sation  may  be  easily  carried  on  from  its  opposite  sides. 
"The  rich  verdure  of  the  shores, — the  cultivated  gardens 
scattered  around, — the  clustering  fig  and  pomegranite  trees," 
contrasted  with  the  desert  through  which  our  troops  had 
passed,  converted  this  land  into  a  scene  of  enchantment. 
The  fatigued  soldiers  were  repaid  for  all  their  toils.  Exis 
tence,  alone,  in  so  beautiful  a  climate  and  with  such  deli 
cious  prospects,  was  sufficient  recompense  for  our  men,  and 
they  gazed  with  delight  at  the  hostile  shore  as  martial  don 
and  gay  donzella  poured  out  in  crowds  from  the  walls  of 
Matamoros  to  behold  the  foreign  flag  and  the  bold  intruders 
clustered  beneath  its  folds. 


CHAPTER  V. 


Military  and  civil  proclamations  against  the  United  States  at  Matamoros 
in  April,  1846 — General  Taylor's  pacific  policy — Desertion  from  our 
army  promoted  by  Ampudia  and  Arista — Shooting  of  deserters,  seen 
swimming  the  river,  ordered — Construction  of  the  fort  opposite  Mata- 
moros^-Guerillas  on  the  left  bank — Ampudia  and  Arista  arrive — Death 
of  Colonel  Cross — Expedition  of  Lieutenants  Dobbins  and  Porter — Death 
of  Porter — Surprise  and  surrender  of  Captain  Thornton's  party  of  dra 
goons— Ampudia  and  General  Taylor  on  the  blockade  of  the  mouth  of 
the  river — Fort  capable  of  defence ;  left  under  the  command  of  Major 
Brown — Walker's  men  surprised  on  the  prairie — Taylor  goes  to  Point 
Isabel — Cannonade  heard^  from  Matamoros — May  with  his  dragoons  and 
Walker  sent  to  the  fort  for  tidings — Their  adventures — Return  to  Point 
Isabel — Taylor  calls  on  Texas  and  Louisiana  for  reinforcements — cha 
racter  and  quality  of  the  Texan  R-anger. 

THE  months  of  March  and  April,  1846,  were  fruitful  in 
civil  and  military  proclamations  at  Matamoros,  manifesting 
a  hostile  spirit  against  our  country,  but  General  Taylor  per 
sisted  in  his  pacific  conduct  and  directed  all  under  his  com 
mand  to  observe  a  scrupulous  regard  to  the  municipal  rights 
and  religious  usages  of  the  quiet  Mexicans  whom  they  found 
in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Rio  Grande.  In  order  that  no 
pretext  of  ignorance  might  be  pleaded  by  our  adversaries, 
in  this  respect,  his  orders  were  published  in  Spanish  as  well 
as  English,  and  freely  distributed  among  the  people.  It  Is 
to  be  regretted  that  a  similar  forbearance  was  not  exhibited 
by  our  opponents.  As  soon  as  our  forces  appeared  in  the 
vicinity  of  Matamoros  they  began  to  intrigue  with  our  subal 
terns.  It  was  known  that  our  army,  made  up  at  random 
from  a  population  of  natives  and  emigrants,  contained  indi 
viduals  bom  in  Europe ;  and,  to  the  religious  and  political 
19 


146  HISTORY    OP    THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

prejudices  of  this  class,  the  authorities   addressed  them 
selves.* 

In  consequence  of  these  seditious  appeals,  the  evil  of  de 
sertion  increased  to  an  alarming  extent,  and  the  most  effec 
tual  measures  were  necessary  to  prevent  the  contagion  from 
spreading.  As  our  deserters,  by  merely  swimming  the  nar 
row  river,  were  at  once  within  the  enemy's  lines,  pursuit 
and  apprehension,  with  a  view  to  trial,  were  out  of  the 
question.  General  Taylor,  therefore,  deemed  it  his  duty, 
warranted  by  the  hostile  attitude  of  the  Mexicans,  to  order 
that  all  men  seen  swimming  across  the  river  should  be  hailed 
by  our  pickets  and  ordered  to  return,  and,  in  case  they  did 

*  The  following  document  was  circulated  by  Mexican  emissaries  and 
spies  among  our  troops : 

"  The  commander-in-chicf  of  the  Mexican  army  to  the  English  and  Irish  under 
the  orders  of  the  American  General  Taylor  : 

"  KNOW  YE  :  That  the  government  of  the  United  States  is  committing 
repeated  acts  of  barbarous  aggression  against  the  magnanimous  Mexican 
nation ;  that  the  government  which  exists  under  "  the  flag  of  the  stars"  is 
unworthy  of  the  designation  of  Christian.  Recollect  that  you  were  born  in 
Great  Britain ;  that  the  American  government  looks  with  coldness  upon 
the  powerful  flag  of  St.  George,  and  is  provoking  to  a  rupture  the  warlike 
people  to  whom  it  belongs,  President  Polk  boldly  manifesting  a  desire  to 
take  possession  of  Oregon,  as  he  has  already  done  of  Texas.  Now,  then, 
come  with  all  confidence  to  the  Mexican  ranks,  and  I  guarantee  to  you, 
upon  my  honor,  good  treatment,  and  that  all  your  expenses  shall  be  de 
frayed  until  your  arrival  in  the  beautiful  capital  of  Mexico. 

"  Germans,  French,  Poles,  and  individuals  of  other  nations  !  Separate 
yourselves  from  the  Yankees,  and  do  not  contribute  to  defend  a  robbery 
and  usurpation  which,  be  assured,  the  civilized  nations  of  Europe  look 
upon  with  the  utmost  indignation.  Come,  therefore,  and  array  yourselves 
under  the  tri-colored  flag,  in  the  confidence  that  the  God  of  armies  protects 
it,  and  that  it  will  protect  you  equally  with  the  English. 

PEDRO  DE  AMPUDIA. 

FRANCISCO  R.  MORENO,  Adj.  of  the  commander-in-chief. 

Head  Quarters,  upon  the  Road  to  Matamoros,  rfpril,  2,  1846." 

Another  and  similar  appeal  was  made  by  Arista  on  the  20th  of  April. 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  147 

not  obey  this  summons,  they  should  be  shot.  These  strin 
gent  orders  were  verbally  given  to  the  several  comman 
ders,  about  the  beginning  of  April,  and  checked  the  prac 
tice,  though  it  is  believed  that  only  two  men, — privates  of 
fifth  and  seventh  infantry,  from  France  and  Switzerland, — 
fell  victims  to  the  fatal  command.  Thus  failed  so  dastardly 
an  attempt  to  interfere  by  intrigue  with  the  morale  of  our 
army.  Taylor  was  undoubtedly  justified  in  resorting  to  the 
most  efficient  means  to  prevent  the  decimation  of  his  scant  ' 
forces  ;  and  although  some  sensitive  politicians  in  our  Union 
were  scandalized  by  the  severity  of  his  orders,  yet,  when 
they  learned  that  the  men  who  were  induced  to  desert  had 
been  used  in  subsequent  actions  against  us  by  the  Mexicans, 
their  philanthropic  clamor  was  drowned  in  the  universal 
voice  of  approval. 

The  manifestly  warlike  appearance  of  the  Mexicans,  and 
the  attempts  they  were  making  to  fortify  the  right  bank  of 
the  river,  induced  General  Taylor  to  strengthen  the  position 
of  his  camp  on  the  opposite  side. 

Accordingly  on  the  6th  of  April  a  battery  for  four  eigh 
teen  pounders,  bearing  directly  on  the  public  square  and  in 
good  range  for  demolishing  the  town,  had  already  been  com 
pleted  and  the  guns  mounted,  whilst  the  engineers  were 
busy  in  laying  out  a  strong  bastioned  field  fort  for  a  garrison 
of  five  hundred  men  in  the  rear  of  the  battery.  But  the 
Mexicans  did  not  leave  us  long  in  doubt  as  to  their  ultimate 
designs.  Their  chief  embarrassment  seemed  to  consist  in 
a  want  of  troops  and  efficient  commanders,  yet  this  was 
remedied  by  the  arrival  of  considerable  reinforcements  in 
the  course  of  the  month.  Meantime,  however,  the  chappa- 
rals  and  lonely  prairies  of  the  left  bank  of  the  Rio  Grande, 
swarmed  with  ranchero  cavalry,  not  authorized  perhaps  by 


148  HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

the  powers  in  Matamoros  to  attack  us  directly,  but  whose 
predatory  habits  and  Arab  warfare  were  encouraged  against 
small  bodies  of  our  men  until  the  main  army  should  be  en 
abled  to  strike  a  decisive  blow. 

On  the  10th  of  April,  Colonel  Cross,  a  deputy  quarter 
master-general  mounted  his  horse  and  proceeded  to  ride,  as 
usual,  for  exercise,  but  the  night  passed  without  his  return, 
nor  was  his  fate  known  until  ten  days  after,  when  a  skele 
ton,,  found  on  the  plains,  was  identified  as  that  of  the  un 
fortunate  officer.  The  mode  of  his  death  or  the  names  of 
his  slayers  have  never  been  discovered.  But  it  was  gene 
rally  reported  and  believed  that  he  had  been  captured  by  the 
lawless  band  of  Romano  Falcon,  a  ranchqro  bandit,  and, 
after  being  robbed  of  every  thing  valuable,  was  shot  with  a 
pistol  by  the  robber  captain. 

With  a  view  to  check  the  depredations  of  these  guerillas, 
Lieutenants  Dobbins  of  the  third  infantry,  and  Porter  of  the 
fourth, — two  bold  and  hardy  soldiers, — were  authorised  to 
scour  the  country  with  a  body  of  picked  men,  and  capture 
or  destroy  any  such  parties  they  might  encounter.  It  ap 
pears  that  they  separated  in  quest  of  the  enemy,  and  that 
Lieutenant  Porter  at  the  head  of  his  own  detachment  sur 
prised  an  armed  troop,  numbering  nearly  one  hundred  and 
fifty,  engaged  in  jerking  beef.  Upon  the  approach  of  our 
officer  one  of  the  Mexicans  snapped  a  musket  at  him,  a  salu 
tation  which  Lieutenant  Porter  returned  by  the  discharge 
of  his  double  barreled  gun.  Upon  this  the  Mexicans  fled  to 
the  screen  of  the  chapparal.  Porter  took  possession  of  the 
horses  and  blankets  of  the  fugitives,  and,  mounting  his  men, 
started  for  head  quarters.  At  this  moment,  however,  the 
rain  began  to  pour  down  with  the  violence  that  is  only  wit 
nessed  in  tropical  climates,  and  whilst  the  Lieutenant  and 
his  party  were  passing  through  a  dense  copse  of  chapparal 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  149 

they  were  fired  on  by  the  enemy  from  an  ambush.  Shot 
followed  shot  from  the  secret  foe  in  rapid  succession,  but 
our  unfortunate  men  were  unable  to  sustain  the  contest,  as 
their  powder  had  been  soaked  by  the  sudden  shower.  They 
wisely  retreated,  therefore,  to  the  chapparal,  and,  separating 
into  three  parties,  found  their  way  to  camp ;  but  the  luckless 
Porter,  having  been  wounded  in  the  thigh,  was  seized  by 
the  Mexicans  as  soon  as  his  men  departed,  and  despatched 
with  their  knives  whilst  they  shrieked  and  yelled  over  his 
mangled  body  like  a  band  of  infuriate  demons. 

Acts  like  these,  characteristic  of  the  worst  periods  of  bor 
der  raids,  denoted  the  approaching  storm.  The  country 
east  of  the  Rio  Grande  bristled  with  irregular  troopers.  It 
was  unsafe  to  go  beyond  the  hail  of  sentinels,  and  the 
peaceful  aspect  of  nature  which  had  charmed  our  men  so 
greatly  upon  their  arrival  was  changed  for  the  stem  alarums 
of  war.  By  the  joyous  peals  of  the  church  bells,  the  shouts 
of  acclamation,  and  the  report  of  spies,  we  learned  that 
General  Ampudia  had  arrived  in  Matamoros,  and  that,  some 
days  later,  he  was  followed  by  Arista,  who  immediately  as 
sumed  the  chief  command  and  apprised  General  Taylor,  in 
courteous  terms,  that  he  considered  hostilities  commenced 
and  was  resolved  to  prosecute  them. 

Among  all  these  notes  of  war-like  preparation,  none  per 
haps  were  more  significant  than  the  adventure  which  must 
be  now  recorded.  On  the  24th  of  April  a  squadron  of  dra 
goons,  sixty-three  in  number,  under  the  orders  of  Captains 
Thornton  and  Hardee,  and  of  Lieutenants  Mason  and  Kane, 
was  despatched  by  General  Taylor  to  reconnoitre  the  river 
for  thirty  miles  above  the  camp  in  the  direction  of  La  Rosia. 
When  the  troopers  arrived  within  three  miles  of  the  post 
they  learned  that  the  enemy  had  crossed  and  occupied  the 


150  HISTORY    OP    THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

country  in  considerable  force.  This  was  about  twenty-eight 
miles  from  our  camp,  and  as  soon  as  the  news  was  received, 
the  guide,  by  name  Capito,-  refused  to  proceed  any  further. 
It  appears  from  all  the  documents  I  have  been  able  to  ex 
amine  that  Captain  Thornton  exercised  a  wise  precaution  on 
the  march  and  in  the  disposition  of  his  troops,  by  throwing 
out  advance  and  rear  guards  although  it  was  impossible  to 
avail  himself  of  the  advantage  of  flankers  in  consequence 
of  the  nature  of  the  road  which  was  often  a  perfect  defile, 
admitting,  at  times,  of  the  passage  only  of  a  single  horse 
man.  As  he  had  reason  to  doubt  the  fidelity  of  his  guide, 
he  resolved  to  advance  without  him,  redoubling,  however, 
his  vigilance,  and  increasing  his  van  guard,  under  the  com 
mand  of  Lieutenant  Mason,  whom  he  ordered  not  to  fire 
upon  the  enemy  unless  assaulted.  The  rear  was  assigned 
to  Captain  Hardee,  and,  in  this  order,  the  party  cautiously 
proceeded  until  it  reached  a  large  plantation  bordering  the 
river  and  hemmed  in  by  a  fence  of  lofty  and  impenetrable 
chapparal.  Captain  Thornton  endeavored  to  approach  the 
houses  at  the  upper  end  of  this  enclosure  by  entering  its 
lower  extremity,  but  failing  to  accomplish  his  object,  he 
passed  around  the  thicket  and  reached  the  field  across  a  pair 
of  bars  which  served  for  gateway.  The  edifice  was  situ 
ated  about  two  hundred  yards  from  this  narrow  aperture  in 
the  bristling  wall,  and,  towards  it,  the  whole  command  di 
rected  its  steps  in  single  file,  without  placing  a  sentinel  at 
the  bars,  or  observing  any  other  precaution  to  prevent  sur 
prise.  It  seems  that  Captain  Thornton,  though  a  skilful 
and  brave  officer,  as  his  campaigns  against  the  Indians  in 
Florida  had  proved,  was  prepossessed  with  the  idea  that  the 
Mexicans  had  not  crossed  the  river,  and  that  even  if  they 
had,  they  would  not  fight.  It  was  a  fatal  mistake.  Cap 
tain  Hardee,  as  has  been  stated,  was  charged  with  the  rear 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  151 

guard  and  was  therefore  the  last  to  enter  with  his  horsemen. 
As  he  approached  the  dwelling  he  perceived  the  troopers 
who  were  already  within  the  enclosure  scattered  in  every 
direction  seeking  for  some  one  with  whom  to  communicate. 
At  length  an  old  Mexican  was  discovered,  and,  while  Thorn 
ton  was  conversing  with  him,  the  alarm  was  given  that  the 
enemy  were  seen  in  numbers  at  the  bars.  This  was  a  be 
wildering  surprise.  Yet  the  gallant  commander  immediately 
gave  the  order  to  charge  and  personally  led  the  advance  to 
cut  his  way  through  the  Mexicans.  But  it  was  too  late; 
the  enemy  had  already  secured  the  entrance,  and  it  was  im 
possible  to  force  their  serried  lines.  Cooped  and  hampered 
as  were  our  men  within  the  impervious  walls  of  chapparal 
and  aloes,  their  flight  was  almost  hopeless.  The  Mexican 
infantry  had  been  stationed  in  the  field  on  the  right  of  the 
road  while  their  cavalry  lined  the  exterior  fence,  so  that  our 
retreat  was  entirely  cut  off.  Seeing  this,  Thornton  turned 
to  the  right,  and  skirted  the  interior  of  the  chapparal  with 
his  command,  whilst  the  enemy  poured  in  their  vollies  in 
every  direction.  By  this  time  disorder  was  triumphant. 
Hardee  dashed  up  to  Thornton  and  urged  that  the  only  hope 
of  safety  was  in  concentrated  action  and  in  the  destruction 
of  the  fence ;  but,  though  the  order  was  immediately  given, 
he  could  neither  stop  his  men  nor  his  horse.  Our  troop 
ers,  perfectly  ensnared,  seem  to  have  become  frantic  with 
rage,  and  consequently  to  have  lost  the  control  of  dis 
cipline.  Like  so  many  animals  at  bay,  each  one  sought 
safety  for  himself,  by  attempting  to  traverse  or  leap  the 
thorny  boundaries  of  the  farm.  Yet  all  efforts  were  useless, 
for,  by  this  time,  the  enemy  had  gained  on  our  men  with 
great  numbers,  and,  completely  surrounded  as  the  plantation 
was,  nothing  remained  but  to  surrender  according  to  the 
usages  of  civilized  nations.  General  Torrejon,  who  com- 


152  HISTORY    OF   THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

manded  the  Mexicans,  received  the  submission  of  Captain 
Hardee ;  and,  together  with  Lieutenant  Kane,  who  had  also 
been  captured,  he  was  conducted  to  Matamoros  on  the  27th, 
where  they  were  lodged  with  General  Ampudia  and  treated 
most  graciously  by  Arista.  Forty-five  of  our  cavalry  were 
taken  prisoners  in  this  disastrous  affair,  but  the  brave  Mason 
was  slain  during  the  conflict.  Sergeant  Tredo,  a  valiant 
soldier,  fell  in  the  first  charge; — Sergeant  Smith  was  un 
horsed  and  killed, — and  the  bodies  of  seven  men  were 
found  on  the  field  of  strife.* 

This  was  a  disheartening  event  for  the  Americans,  and  a 
subject  of  exultation  for  the  Mexicans.  It  was  neither  a 
battle  nor  even  an  affray;  yet,  bearing  to  warfare  the  same 
relation  that  trapping  does  to  sportsmanship,  it  nevertheless 
afforded  material  for  Mexican  gasconade.  "This," — said 
Arista  in  his  letter  of  acknowledgment  to  Torrejon, — "has 
been  a  day  of  rejoicing  to  the  division  of  the  north  which 
has  just  received  the  joyous  news  of  the  triumph  of  your 
brigade.  The  delighted  country  will  celebrate  this  prelimi 
nary  to  the  glorious  deeds  that  her  happy  sons  will  in  future 
present  her!"  For  some  days  it.  was  supposed  that  Thorn 
ton  had  been  slain,  but  on  the  29th  his  comrades  were  de 
lighted  to  hear  that  he  had  cut  his  way  through  the  enemy, 
and  after  running  the  gauntlet  of  his  foes,  had  been  captured 
only  in  consequence  of  the  fall  of  his  horse. 

*• 

As  soon  as  Ampudia  assumed  the  command  he  ordered 
all  Americans  to  leave  Matamoros  within  twenty-four  hours 
for  Victoria,  a  town  in  the  interior  of  Tamaulipas ;  and 
on  the  twelfth  of  April  he  addressed  a  note  to  Gene 
ral  Taylor  requiring  him,  within  the  same  peremptory 

*  Captains  Thornton's  and  Hardee's  reports  to  General  Taylor.  H.  of 
R.  doc.  No.  119,  29th  cong.  2d  sess.  pp.  19  and  20. 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  153 

period  of  time  to  break  up  his  camp,  and  retire  to  the  other 
bank  of  the  Nueces,  whilst  their  respective  governments 
were  deciding  their  quarrel  by  negotiation.  He  informed 
our  commander  that  if  he  persisted  in  remaining  on  the  al 
leged  soil  of  Tamaulipas,  arms,  alone,  could  decide  the 
dispute,  but  that  the  war,  which  would  necessarily  ensue, 
should  be  conducted,  upon  the.  part  of  Mexico,  conformably 
to  the  principles  and  rights  established  by  the  civilized 
world.  General  Taylor  did  not  delay  his  reply.  On  the 
same  day  he  answered  the  Mexican  chief,  that  inasmuch  as 
he  was  charged  with  the  military  and  not  the  diplomatic 
duties  of  the  controversy,  he  could  not  discuss  the  interna 
tional  question  involved  in  the  advance  of  the  American 
army,  but  that  he  would  unhesitatingly  continue  to  occupy 
the  positions  he  held  at  Isabel  and  opposite  Matamoros  in 
spite  of  all  menaces.  The  hostile  declarations  and  alterna 
tive  presented  by  Ampudia  induced  Taylor  to  order  the 
stringent  blockade  of  the  Rio  Grande,  so  as  to  stop  all  sup 
plies  for  the  city,  and  the  naval  commander  at  the  Brazos  de 
Santiago  was  directed  to  dispose  his  forces  accordingly. 
A  body  of  Texan  rangers,  under  the  command  of  Captain 
Walker,  a  tried  and  daring  soldier  of  the  frontier,  was  sta 
tioned  on  the  road  to  Point  Isabel.  During  the  night  of  the 
27th  and  28th  of  April,  the  troops,  at  the  latter  place,  consist 
ing  chiefly  of  two  companies  of  artillery,  under  the  command 
of  Major  Monroe,  were  in  momentary  expectation  of  attack 
in  consequence  of  rumors  from  the  enemy,  for  it  was  known 
that  large  bodies  of  Mexicans  had  crossed  the  river  and 
were  striving  to  interpose  themselves  between  Isabel  and  the 
fort  opposite  Matamoros  in  order  to  cut  off  supplies  for  the 
garrison.  Several  teams  that  departed  from  the  depot  for 
the  fort  were  forced  to  return,  and,  on  the  morning  of  the 
20 


154  HISTORY    OP   THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

28th  the  camp  of  Walker  was  surprised  on  the  prairie  by  a 
party  of  bold  rancheros  who  killed  five  of  our  rangers  and 
dispersed  the  rest,  while  the  officer  of  the  company  and  half 
of  his  command  were  absent  on  detached  service. 

By  this  time  the  works  opposite  Matamoros  were  well 
advanced,  yet,  owing  to  the  peculiar  nature  of  the  country 
and  our  deficiency  in  the  proper  description  of  light  troops, 
we  were  kept  in  ignorance  of  the  enemy's  movements  on  the 
left  bank.  It  was  ascertained,  however,  with  sufficient  cer 
tainty,  that  they  were  continuing  to  throw  considerable 
forces  on  the  eastern  shore,  with  the  design  of  attacking 
our  command;  and  General  Taylor  received  information, 
upon  which  he  could  rely,  that  Arista  had  prepared  to  pass 
the  Rio  Grande,  below  Matamoros,  in  order  to  effect  a  junc 
tion  with  his  forces  from  above.  It  was  not  believed,  how 
ever,  that  he  would  assault  the  position  opposite  that  city 
even  with  four  thousand  men,  and  hence  our  commander- in- 
chief  supposed  that  the  depot  at  Isabel  was  the  object  of  his 
movement.  This  impression  was  strengthened  by  the  fact 
that  since  a  rigid  blockade  of  the  river  was  maintained,  pro 
visions  had  become  exceedingly  scarce  at  Matamoros ;  and, 
therefore,  hastening  the  completion  of  the  field  work,  he 
was  able  by  great  exertions  on  the  part  of  our  troops,  to 
bring  it  to  a  good  state  of  defence  by  the  first  of  May.  The 
seventh  infantry  under  Major  Brown,  Captain  Lowd's  and 
Lieutenant  Bragg's  companies  of  artillery,  together  with  the 
sick  of  the  army,  were  left  in  the  work ;  and,  on  the  after 
noon  of  that  day,  General  Taylor  moved  with  the  main  force 
under  his  immediate  command  in  the  direction  of  Point  Isa 
bel.  At  eleven  o'clock,  the  army,  by  a  rapid  march,  was 
enabled  to  bivouack  on  the  prairie  at  a  distance  of  ten  miles 
from  the  depot,  and  on  the  next  day,  it  reached  its  destina 
tion  without  encountering  the  enemy,  though  the  scouts 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  155 

surprised  and  shot  several  men  belonging  to  the  Mexican 
pickets. 

On  the  morning  and  during  the  day  of  the  3d  of  May,  a 
heavy  canonnade  in  the  direction  of  Matamoros  announced 
to  General  Taylor  that  an  attack  had  probably  been  com 
menced  on  the  American  fort.  This  was  a  different  result 
from  his  anticipations,  and  made  him  extremely  anxious  for 
the  fate  of  the  small  but  brave  command  that  had  been  left, 
with  slender  supplies  of  rations  and  ammunition,  in  the  in 
complete  field  work. 

Accordingly,  on  the  evening  of  that  day,  a  squadron  of 
one  hundred  dragoons  under  Captain  May,  accompanied  by 
Walker  and  ten  of  his  daring  rangers,  was  despatched  to 
pass,  if  possible,  through  the  hordes  of  Mexican  guerillas 
that  lined  the  road.  They  were  ordered  to  proceed  within 
a  few  miles  of  Fort  Brown  and  reconnoitre  the  country  on 
the  left  towards  the  river:  next  to  take  a  position  on  the 
edge  of  the  chapparal,  and,  if  the  commander  heard  no  firing 
from  our  fort,  he  was  then  to  despatch  a  small  command  un 
der  Walker  to  communicate  with  Major  Brown.  After  this 
he  was  to  await  the  return  of  the  gallant  rangers,. and  repair 
to  Point  Isabel. 

May  and  his  troopers,  alert  for  such  an  adventurous  en- 
terprize,  stole  onward  towards  Matamoros,  under  cover  of 
night,  and,  about  nine  o'clock,  beheld  the  enemy's  camp 
fires  on  the  field  of  Palo  Alto.  Avoiding  the  outposts  and 
cautiously  circling  the  Mexican  front,  he  passed  the  foe,  and 
galloped  towards  the  American  fort,  until,  hearing  no  sound  of 
cannon  in  that  direction,  he  halted  with  his  command  under 
the  protecting  screen  of  an  extensive  chapparal,  about  seven 
miles  from  Matamoros.  Here  he  detached  Walker  and  six 
of  his  rangers,  best  skilled  in  woodcraft,  to  communicate 


156  HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

according  to  orders,  with  Major  Brown,  while  he  awaited 
their  return  in  his  concealed  position. 

It  was  between  two  and  three  o'clock  in  the  morning  that 
Walker  crept  up  to  the  bastions  of  our  fort  and  was  hailed 
by  the  sentinel.  As  soon  as  he  was  recognized  his  party 
was  placed  in  a  secure  position,  and  the  bold  ranger  admit 
ted  by  a  ladder  to  the  fort.  Major  Brown  reported  the  facts 
of  the  assault  from  Matamoros  and  the  condition  of  his  de 
fences,  as  speedily  as  possible,  and  Walker  and  his  men, 
mounting  fresh  horses,  dashed  off  towards  May  so  as  to  pass 
the  enemy's  lines  before  day-light.  But,  as  he  approached 
the  thicket  where  he  left  the  command,  he  found  the  troopers 
gone;  and  returning  to  the  fort,  which  he  reached  before 
reveille,  he  awaited  the  approach  of  night  before  he  again 
attempted  to  perform  his  dangerous  service. 

Meanwhile  May  and  his  men  had  remained  in  their  sad 
dles  until  about  half  an  hour  before  day,  when,  from  the 
protracted  absence  of  the  ranger,  they  believed  that  the  ene 
my's  scouts  had  detected  him.  Walker  had  been  already 
away  about  six  hours ;  and  as  May's  force  was  unable  to 
cope  with  the  supposed  numbers  of  the  Mexicans,  and 
peremptory  orders  had  been  given  to  retire  to  Isabel,  he  im 
mediately  passed  down  the  enemy's  lines  at  a  brisk  gallop 
over  the  prairie.  About  twelve  miles  from  our  camp  he 
suddenly  discovered  a  hundred  and  fifty  lancers  drawn  up 
across  the  road  to  dispute  his  passage,  but  speedily  forming 
his  line,  he  charged  the  troop,  and,  driving  it  towards  the 
Mexican  camp,  followed  the  fugitives  for  three  miles  on  his 
wearied  horses.  Fearing,  however,  that  larger  forces  might 
be  lying  in  ambush  in  the  fields,  and  perceiving  that  the 
enemy's  cavalry  was  fleeter  than  his  own,  he  abandoned  the 
pursuit  and  reached  Point  Isabel  about  nine  o'clock. 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  157 

But  Walker  was  not  to  be  defeated  in  his  gallant  effort  to 
bear  tidings  to  Taylor  of  the  fortunes  of  the  fort.  As  soon 
as  it  was  dark  on  the  4th,  he  remounted  with  his  trusty 
band  and  concealed  on  his  person  the  despatch  which  Major 
Brown  had  prepared  in  the  interval.  Every  copse  and 
thicket  along  the  road,  suitable  for  an  ambush,  was  filled 
with  foes  anxious  to  cut  off  his  return  to  camp,  for,  as  it 
was  subsequently  ascertained,  the  Mexicans  had  obtained 
information  of  his  purposes.  But  Walker  passed  unhurt 
through  all  these  impediments,  and  brought  the  cheerful 
news  that  all  was  as  yet  safe  in  the  staunch  little  fort. 

Late  in  April,  and  while  the  events,  related  in  this  chap 
ter,  were  occurring,  by  which  it  became  evident  that  serious 
hostilities  were,  at  length,  intended,  General  Taylor  pru 
dently  began  to  strengthen  his  army  by  demands  for  rein 
forcements  under  the  discretionary  powers  vested  in  him  by 
government.  In  March,  he  had  already  called  the  notice 
of  the  war  department  to  the  necessity  of  sending  recruits 
to  fill  up  the  regiments  even  to  the  extent  of  the  existing 
feeble  establishment;  but,  in  April  he  authorized  the  raising 
of  two  companies  of  mounted  men  from  Texas,  and  called 
upon  the  governor  of  that  State  for  four  regiments  of  volun 
teers,  two  of  which  were  to  act  as  cavalry  and  two  to  serve 
on  foot.  As  some  delay  might  occur  in  collecting  these 
troops,  he,  moreover,  desired  the  governor  of  Louisiana  to 
despatch  four  regiments  of  infantry  as  soon  as  practicable, 
and,  with  this  auxiliary  force  of  nearly  five  thousand  men, 
he  hoped  to  prosecute  the  impending  war  with  energy,  or 
to  carry  it,  if  needful,  into  the  enemy's  country. 

On  the  sixth  of  May,  Lieutenant  McPhail  reached  Point 
Isabel  with  some  recruits  for  the  army;  and,  after  filling  up 
the  permanent  garrison  with  the  men  who  were  still  too  raw 


158  HISTORY    OF   THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

to  encounter  the  dangers  of  actual  field  service,  General 
Taylor  determined  to  march  on  the  following  day  with  the 
main  body  of  the  forces  to  open  a  communication  with  Major 
Brown  and  to  throw  forward  the  needful  supplies  of  ord 
nance  and  provisions.  The  language  of  our  chief  did  not 
betoken  the  fears  which,  at  that  moment,  were  felt  through 
out  the  country  for  the  fate  of  his  brave  command,  sur 
rounded  as  it  was  believed  to  be,  by  an  imposing  army  of 
Mexicans  led  by  their  bravest  generals.  "If  the  enemy 
oppose  my  march,  in  whatever  force,"  said  Taylor,  "  I  shall 
fight  him!"  It  was  this  little  phrase  that  inspirited  the 
anxious  heart  of  his  country  and  denoted  the  energetic  cha 
racter  of  the  hero  whose  skill  and  genius  were  so  soon  to  be 
developed  in  active  warfare.  When  he  inarched  from  the 
banks  of  the  Rio  Grande  on  the  1st  of  May,  the  Mexicans 
believed  that  he  fled  to  secure  his  personal  safety  at  Point 
Isabel,  whilst  he  abandoned  the  infantry  and  artillery  in  the 
fort  opposite  Matamoros  as  an  easy  prey  to  their  valiant 
arms.  Accordingly,  the  bells  of  the  city  rang  their  merry 
peals,  and  repeated  bursts  of  military  music  denoted  that  it 
was  a  gala  day  in  the  ancient  city.  At  that  moment  the 
great  body  of  the  Mexican  army  crossed  the  stream  under 
the  orders  of  General  Torrejon,  and  these  were  the  forces 
that  Walker  and  his  rangers  had  eluded  while  bearing  to 
Isabel  the  cheering  despatch  from  Major  Brown. 

At  the  close  of  this  chapter,  and  while  we  are  preparing 
for  graver  subjects,  it  may  not  be  uninteresting  for  the  reader 
to  obtain  a  careful  picture  of  those  TEXAN  RANGERS,  whose 
services  had  already  proved  so  useful,  and  who  were  to  play 
an  important  part  in  this  bloody  drama. 

These  were  the  bold  and  reckless  children  of  the  frontier, 
who  lived  forever  in  warlike  harness,  prompt  to  suppress  the 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  159 

savage  raids  of  the  Indians  and  mongrel  Mexicans  who  har- 
rassed  the  settlements  of  western  Texas  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  Guadalupe,  La  Vaca  and  San  Antonio.  Organizing 
themselves  in  regular  companies  for  mutual  protection  along 
a  ravaged  border,  they  were  continually  prepared  alike  for 
camp  or  battle,  and  opposed  themselves  to  the  enemy  at  the 
outpost  barriers  of  civilization. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  men  whose  life  is  passed  in  the 
forest,  on  the  saddle,  or  around  the  fire  of  a  winter  bivouack, 
can  present  the  gallant  array  of  troopers  on  parade,  hence  the 
Texan  Ranger  is  careless  of  external  appearance,  and  adapts 
his  dress  strictly  to  the  wants  of  useful  service.  His  first 
care  is  to  provide  himself  with  a  stalwart  and  nimble  horse, 
perfectly  broken  and  capable  of  enduring  fatigue  in  a  south 
ern  climate.  His  Spanish  saddle,  or  saddle  frame,  is  care 
fully  covered  with  the  $kins  of  wild  animals,  while,  from  its 
sides  depend  some  twenty  or  thirty  leatheren  thongs  to  which 
are  attached  all  the  various  trappings  needed  in  the  woods. 
No  baggage  is  permitted  to  accompany  the  troop  and  en 
cumber  it  in  the  wilderness.  A  braided  lariat  and  a  cabaros 
of  horse-hair  are  coiled  around  his  saddle-bow,  the  latter  to 
be  unwound  at  nightfall  and  laid  in  circles  on  the  ground  to 
prevent  the  approach  of  reptiles  which  glide  off  from  the 
sleeper  when  they  touch  the  bristling  hair  of  the  instrument, 
while  his  horse,  tethered  by  the  long  and  pliant  lariat  trail 
ing  along  the  ground,  wanders  but  little  from  the  spot  where 
his  master  reposes. 

Stout  buckskin  leggings,  hunting  shirt,  and  cap,  protect 
the  ranger's  body  from  the  sharp  spines  of  aloes,  or  the 
briars  and  branches  of  the  matted  forest.  His  weapons, 
next  to  his  horse,  exact  his  attention.  His  long  and  heavy 
rifle  carries  from  fifty  to  sixty  bullets  to  the  pound ;  around 
his  waist  is  belted  a  bowie-knife  or  home  made  hanger,  and 


160  HISTORY    OF   THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

sometimes,  a  brace  of  revolving  pistols  is  added  to  this 
powerful  armory.  Across  his  right  side  are  slung  his  pouch 
of  balls  and  powder-horn,  and  the  strap  by  which  they  are 
suspended  is  widened  or  padded  over  the  shoulder  to  relieve 
the  weight  and  presure  of  his  gun.  A  practised  shot,  he  can 
hit  his  mark  unerringly  in  full  career.  He  may  be  called  a 
"  picked  man,"  though  not  in  the  sense  of  the  phrase  as  or 
dinarily  used  in  military  affairs.  Nevertheless  he  is  a  choice 
soldier,  for  none  but  men  of  equal  stamp  and  hardihood  find 
their  way  to  the  border  and  congregate  naturally  for  the 
hazardous  life  they  endure. 

From  .the  period  of 'the  battle  of  San  Jacinto  to  the  year 
1841,  when  they  formed  themselves  into  regular  squadrons 
of  rangers,  these  were  the  hardy  woodsmen,  who  defended 
the  frontier  as  independent  troops,  free  from  the  control  of 
State  or  government.  Whenever  Indians  or  Mexicans  ap 
proached  the  settlements,  runners  were  quickly  despatched 
along  the  streams  to  sound  the  alarm,  and  in  a  few  hours  the 
wild  huntsmen  were  roused  for  a  campaign  of  months.  All 
they  needed  for  the  foray  was  their  horse,  their  weapons, 
their  blankets,  their  pouch  with  fifty  balls,  and  their  bushel 
of  parched  and  pounded  corn.  In  hot  weather  or  cold,  in  wet 
or  dry,  they  carried  no  tents,  and  required  no  fresh  food  save 
the  game  of  the  forest.  Such  was  the  Texan  Ranger  at  the 
outbreak  of  this  war, — light  in  heart,  indomitable  in  courage, 
capable  of  vast  endurance,  and  sworn  in  his  hatred  of  In 
dians  and  Mexicans.  His  life  was  one  of  continual  anxiety 
and  surprises  which  made  him  alert  and  watchful.  He  was 
neither  a  troubadour  nor  a  crusader,  yet  his  mode  of  exist 
ence  had  charms  for  multitudes  of  adventurers.  It  was 
not  disgust  with  society  or  disregard  of  its  comforts  that 
forced  these  knights  errant  to  the  forest  and  kept  them  in  a 
state  of  continual  excitement;  but  there  was  a  certain  de- 


MEXICO    AND   THE    UNITED    STATES.  161 

gree  of  romance  in  their  wandering  career  that  entitled  them 
to  respect  and  consideration  even  from  the  more  sentimental 
inhabitants  of  cities.  A  life  without  restraint,  except  need 
ful  subordination  when  on  actual  duty,  is  always  attractive, 
and  the  forester  realizes  it  completely.  Thinking  much  and 
speaking  little,  he  considers  his  officer  of  no  more  value  or 
importance  than  himself.  Hence  he  yields  obedience  only 
because  he  knows  the  necessity  of  discipline  in  a  hazardous 
service,  while,  off  of  duty,  he  is  as  familiar  with  his  com 
mander  as  with  a  private. 

Thus  the  Ranger's  existence  has  ever  been  a  scene  of  fierce 
independence ;  and  though  approaching  the  ranchero  in 
some  of  his  restless  habits,  he  has,  nevertheless,  always 
been  distinguished  from  that  vile  compound  of  ferocity, 
treachery  and  cruelty,  by  the  remnants  of  civilization  he  has 
borne  to  the  solitudes  of \ the  wilderness.  He  was  destined 
to  be  of  infinite  value  to  the  regular  army  in  a  country  where 
it  was  important  to  obtain  information  by  reckless  means 
among  an  almost  Arab  population.  Subsequent  events 
proved  that  no  scouting  service  was  so  severe,  no  adventure 
so  dangerous,  that  he  would  not  risk  his  life  and  exercise 
the  cunning  of  his  craft  in  performing  it  either  on  the  thorny 
banks  of  the  Rio  Grande  or  among  the  mountain  defiles  of 
Monterey. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


THE  BATTLE  OP  PALO  ALTO. 

ON  the  night  of  the  7th  of  May,  with  a  force  of  over  two 
thousand  men  and  a  supply  train  of  two  hundred  and  fifty 
wagons,  General  Taylor  bivouacked  on  the  plains  about 
seven  miles  from  Point  Isabel.  The  whole  of  the  country 
is  extremely  flat  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  river  and  on 
the  road  to  Matamoros.  In  some  places,  broad  thickets 
cover  the  levels,  in  others,  wide  prairies  spread  out  dotted, 
here  and  there,  with  bushes  avid  ponds.  Early  on  the 
morning  of  Friday,  the  8th,  our  camp  was  broken  up  and 
the  little  army  set  in  motion  towards  the  fort.  About  noon 
the  scouts  reported  that  the  Mexicans  were  drawn  up  in  our 
front,  covering  the  road  with  all  their  forces ;  and  as  soon, 
therefore,  as  we  reached  the  broad  field  of  Palo  Alto,  a  halt 
was  ordered  to  refresh  our  men,  and  form  our  line  of  battle 
with  due  deliberation.  Far  across  the  prairie,  at  the  dis 
tance  of  three  quarters  of  a  mile,  were  discerned  the  glitter 
ing  masses  of  the  enemy.  Infantry  and  cavalry  were  ranged, 
alternately,  on  the  level  field  and  stretched  out  for  more  than 
a  mile  in  length,  backed  by  the  wiry  limbs  of  the  tall  trees 
from  which  the  battle  ground  has  taken  its  name.  The 
left  wing,  composed  of  heavy  masses  of  horse,  occupied  the 
road,  resting  on  a  thicket  of  chapparal,  and  flanked  by  pondsj 
while  large  bodies  of  infantry  were  discovered  on  the  right, 
greatly  outnumbering  our  own  force  and  standing  somewhat 


MEXICO    AND   THE    UNITED    STATES.  163 

in  a  curved  line,  ready,  as  it  were,  to  embrace  our  advancing 
columns. 

Orders  were  directly  given  on  the  American  side  to  form 
the  array  for  action.  On  our  extreme  right  were  ranged  the 
fifth  infantry  under  Colonel  Mclntosh;  Major  Ringgold's 
artillery;  the  third  infantry  commanded  by  Captain  L.  M. 
Morris ;  two  eighteen  pounders  drawn  by  twenty  yoke  of 
oxen  and  commanded  by  Lieutenant  Churchill,  and  lastly, 
the  fourth  infantry  under  Major  Allen.  The  third  and  fourth 
regiments,  formed  the  third  brigade  under  Lieutenant  Colo 
nel  Garland,  and  all  these  corps,  together  with  two  squad 
rons  of  dragoons  led  by  Ker  and  May,  composed  the  right 
wing  under  the  orders  of  Colonel  Twiggs.  The  left  was 
composed  of  a  battalion  of  artillery  commanded  by  Colonel 
Childs,  Captain  Duncan's  light  artillery,  and  the  eighth  in 
fantry  under  Captain  Montgomery, — all  constituting  the  first 
brigade  under  the  orders  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  Belknap. 
The  train,  meanwhile,  was  packed  near  a  pond  under  the 
direction  of  Captains  Grossman  and  Myers,  and  protected 
by  the  squadron  of  Ker's  dragoons. 

It  was  about  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  that  our  march 
against  the  enemy  began  by  heads  of  columns,  whilst  the 
eighteen-pounder  battery  followed  slowly  along  the  road. 
During  our  advance  it  was  deemed  especially  important 
to  ascertain  with  accuracy  the  number  and  calibre  of  the 
enemy's  cannon,  and  for  this  hazardous  reconnoissance  on 
an  open  plain,  Lieutenant  Blake,  of  the  topographical  engi 
neers,  immediately  volunteered.  Passing  the  advanced 
guard  at  full  speed,  he  dashed  over  the  long  grass  that  con 
cealed  the  opposing  forces,  until  he  approached  within  about 
eighty  yards  of  the  line  where  he  had  a  distinct  view  of  the 
enemy.  The  Mexicans  gazed  with  surprise  at  this  daring 
act,  while  Blake  alighted  from  his  horse,  surveyed  the  whole 


164  HISTORY    OF   THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

array  with  his  glass,  counting  the  squadrons  and  ordnance 
carefully,  and  then  galloped  down  their  front  to  the  other 
wing  of  their  extended  line.* 

Scarcely  had  this  gallant  officer  reported  to  our  general 
when  two  of  the  enemy's  batteries  opened  on  us  vigorously. 
Taylor  immediately  ordered  our  columns  to  halt,  and  de 
ploying  into  line,  our  artillery  returned  the  fire,  whilst  the 
eighth  infantry,  on  our  extreme  left,  was  thrown  back  to  se 
cure  that  flank; — and,  thus,  with  the  distance  of  only  seven 
hundred  yards  between  the  opposing  lines,  the  battle  began 
with  rattling  vollies  of  ball  and  grape  bounding  over  our 
heads.  The  first  fires  of  the  enemy  injured  us  but  little, 
while  the  heavy  metal  of  our  eighteen-pounders,  and  the 
smaller  shot  of  Ringgold's  battery,  quickly  dispersed  the 
masses  of  cavalry  on  the  left.  Duncan's  battery,  supported 
by  May's  dragoons,  was  then  thrown  forward  on  that  flank, 
and  for  more  than  an  hour  the  incessant  thunder  of  a  can 
nonade  raged  along  both  fronts,  making  sad  gaps  in  the 
battalions,  rending  the  prairie,  filling  the  air  with  dust  and 
smoke,  killing  and  wounding  a  .few,  yet,  producing  no  de 
cided  effect.  The  Mexicans,  unskilled  in  gunnery,  fired 
without  precision;  but,  at  almost  every  discharge  of  the 
American  ordnance,  the  shot  told  with  wonderful  precision 
among  the  Mexicans.  Our  artillery  was  directed  not  only 
to  masses  and  groups  of  the  enemy,  but  often  to  particular 
men,  so  that  the  officers  felt  as  certain  of  their  aim,  as  if 
firing  with  rifles. 

*  Lieutenant  Blake  died  about  the  time  our  fight  commenced  at  Resaca 
de  la  Palma,  on  the  9th,  from  a  wound  inflicted  by  one  of  his  own  pistols. 
He  had  thrown  his  sword,  to  which  his  pistols  were  attached,  on  the  ground 
on  entering  his  tent.  One  pistol  was  discharged  accidentally  in  the  fall, 
and  the  ball  entered  his  thigh,  but  was  cut  out  of  his  breast.  He  died  three 
hours  afterwards. 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  165 

Meanwhile  our  infantry  had  been  hitherto  rather  specta 
tors  of  the  artillery's  prowess,  than  active  combatants ;  but  as 
the  battle  thickened  the  manoeuvreing  of  the  enemy  to  out 
flank,  us  commenced.  With  infinitely  smaller  forces  than 
the  Mexicans,  our  policy  had  been  to  act  on  the  defensive 
as  much  as  possible,  and  to  fed  the  enemy  before  we  en 
gaged  at  closer  quarters.  Hence  we  awaited  their  first 
assault,  made  by  a  regiment  of  Mexican  lancers  led  by 
Torrejon  and  supported  by  two  pieces  of  artillery,  which 
threatened  our  right  flank  by  moving  through  the  chapparal 
in  the  direction  of  our  train.  The  fifth  infantry  was  imme 
diately  detached  together  with  a  section  of  Ringgold's  bat 
tery  and  Walker's  Texans,  to  check  this  dangerous  move 
ment.  The  gallant  regiment  was  thrown  into  a  square  with 
the  Ranger  and  twenty  of  his  troopers  on  its  right,  and  thus 
stood  ready  to  repulse  1fae  charge.  On  came  the  advancing 
squadrons  in  splendid  array,  moving  in  solid  masses  of  men 
and  horse,  each  lance  tipped  with  its  gay  and  fluttering  pen 
non.  Ringgold,  from  his  advanced  position,  galled  them  as 
they  trotted  onward ;  Ridgely,  from  his  closer  ground,  poured 
into  them  rapid  vollies  of  grape  and  cannister;  still  they 
surged  onward  in  spite  of  all  resistance.  At  length,  when 
within  shot  of  the  impervious  square,  suddenly,  a  sheet  of 
deadly  flame  burst  from  the  regiment,  and  breaking  their 
array,  forced  them  to  recoil  in  confusion.  Nevertheless  the 
daring  troop  was  not  dismayed  by  the  carnage.  Form 
ing  rapidly  from  its  ruins  an  imposing  mass,  again  it  dashed 
towards  the  train,  until  the  third  infantry  on  our  extreme 
right,  under  the  orders  of  Colonel  Twiggs,  crippled  its  ad 
vance  so  completely,  that  it  was  impossible  to  rally.  This 
was  the  last  effort  of  the  brave  lancers.  Repulsed  in  every 
eifort,  they  began  to  retreat  rapidly  but  in  order ;  yet  Ring- 
gold,  Ridgely,  and  the  regiments  of  infantry,  still  hung  upon 


166  HISTORY    OF   THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

their  flank,  and  with  their  terrible  discharges  of  grape  and 
bullets,  mowed  wide  openings  in  the  flying  ranks  until  they 
reached  their  line.  Meantime  the  incessant  blaze  of  our  ar 
tillery  had  set  fire  to  the  withered  prairie,  whose  tall  grasses 
touched  the  very  muzzles  of  our  guns,  and  for  a  while  the 
armies  were  concealed  from  each  other  in  the  mingled  smoke 
of  the  recent  battle  and  of  the  burning  field. 

There  was  a  pause  in  the  conflict,  as  if  the  two  comba 
tants,  like  gallant  boxers,  stopped  a  moment  to  take  breath 
and  survey  each  other  with  looks  of  defiance.  The  enemy's 
left  had  been  driven  back  in  confusion;  and,  as  their  can 
nonade  ceased,  the  road  remained  free  for  the  advance  of 
our  eighteen-pounders  close  to  the  first  position  that  had 
been  occupied  by  the  Mexican  cavalry.  This  was  promptly 
ordered  by  General  Taylor  who  caused  the  first  brigade  to 
take  a  new  post  on  the  left  of  that  formidable  battery.  The 
fifth  was  also  advanced  to  the  extreme  right  of  our  new  line, 
while  the  train  was  moved  accordingly  to  suit  the  altered 
front.  As  the  battalion  of  artillery  advanced  slowly  over  the 
field  it  came  up  to  a  private  of  the  fifth,  a  gallant  veteran  of 
the  old  world  who  had  escaped  the  fires  of  Austerlitz  and 
Waterloo  to  die  at  Palo  Alto.  He  was  one  of  the  first  who 
fell  in  the  action,  and  as  his  fellow  soldiers  paused  a  mo 
ment  to  compassionate  his  sufferings,  when  they  saw  the 
blood  gushing  with  each  pulsation  from  his  shattered  limbs — 
he  waved  them  onward — "Go  on  companions,  regardless 
of  me," — shouted  he, — "I've  got  but  what  a  soldier  enlists 
for, — strike  the  enemy; — let  me  die?"  Such  were  the  ex 
clamations  of  Napoleon's  soldiers,  at  Marengo,  when  the 
advancing  squadrons  of  cavalry  hesitated  to  leap  over  the 
heaps  of  wounded  Frenchmen:  "Tread  on  me  comrades; 
make  a  bridge  of  my  body!  Long  live  France!  Vive  la 


MEXICO    AND   THE    UNITED    STATES.  167 

liberte!"  The  romantic  fervor  of  warlike  enthusiasm  de 
prives  battle  of  half  its  horrors,  and  makes  death  on  the  field 
a  glorious  exit  from  the  sufferings  of  humanity. 

The  movements  we  made  in  changing  our  line  were  an 
swered  by  corresponding  alterations  of  the  Mexican  front, 
and,  after  a  suspension  of  action  for  nearly  an  hour  the  bat 
tle  was  resumed.  The  effect  of  these  changes  was  to  edge 
our  right  flank  somewhat  nearer  Matamoros,  and  to  enable 
our  forces  to  hold  the  road  against  the  Mexicans  who  rested 
their  lines  on  the  thickets  in  their  rear. 

The  attack  was  recommenced  by  a  destructive  fire  of  ar 
tillery.  Wide  openings  were  continually  torn  in  the  ene 
my's  ranks  by  our  marksmen,  and  the  constancy  with  which 
the  Mexican  infantry  endured  the  incessant  hurricane  of  shot 
was  the  theme  of  universal  admiration.  Captain  May,  de 
tached  with  his  squadron  to  make  a  demonstration  on  the 
left  of  the  enemy,  suffered  severely  from  the  copper  grape 
of  the  Mexican  artillery.  Whilst  passing  the  general  and  his 
staff  with  his  troopers,  the  enemy  concentrated  the  fire  of 
their  batteries  upon  him,  killing  six  of  his  horses  and  wound 
ing  five  dragoons.  Nevertheless  he  succeeded  in  gaming 
his  desired  position  in  order  to  charge  the  cavalry,  but 
found  the  foe  in  such  overwhelming  numbers  as  to  render 
utterly  ineffectual  any  assault  by  his  small  command.  The 
fourth  infantry,  which  had  been  commanded  to  support  the 
eighteen-pounders,  was  also  exposed  to  a  galling  fire  by 
which  several  men  were  killed  and  Captain  Page  mortally 
wounded.  The  great  effort  of  the  Mexicans  was  to  silence 
that  powerful  battery,  whose  patient  oxen  had  dragged  it 
into  the  midst  of  the  fight.  Hence  they  directed  their  aim 
almost  exclusively  upon  these  tremendous  pieces  and  upon 


168  HISTORY    OP    THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

the  light  artillery  of  Major  Ringgold,  who  was  fatally  struck 
by  a  cannon  ball  at  this  period  of  the  conflict.* 

Meanwhile  the  battalion  of  artillery  under  Colonel  Childs 
had  been  brought  up  to  support  the  artillery  on  our  right, 
and  a  strong  demonstration  of  cavalry  was  now  made  by  the 
enemy  against  this  part  of  our  line,  while  the  column  con 
tinued  to  advance  under  a  severe  fire  from  the  eighteen- 
pounders.  The  battalion  was  instantly  formed  into  square 
and  held  ready  to  receive  the  charge ;  but  when  the  advan 
cing  squadrons  were  within  close  range,  a  storm  of  canister 
from  the  eighteen-pounders  dispersed  them.  A  rattling  dis 
charge  of  small  arms  was  then  opened  upon  the  square,  but 
well  aimed  vollies  from  its  front  soon  silenced  all  further 
efforts  of  the  Mexicans  in  that  quarter.  It  was  now  nearly 
dark,  and  the  action  terminated  on  our  right,  as  the  enemy 
were  completely  driven  back  from  their  position  and  foiled  in 
every  attempt  either  to  break  or  outflank  our  gallant  lines. 

While  these  actions  were  occurring  on  our  right  under 
the  eye  of  General  Taylor,  the  Mexicans  had  made  a  serious 
attempt  against  our  left.  The  smoke  hung  densely  over  the 
field  and  bushes  so  as  almost  to  obscure  the  armies  from 
each  other,  and  under  cover  of  this  misty  veil  and  of  ap 
proaching  night,  the  enemy  suddenly  rushed  towards  that 
wing  and  the  train  with  an  immense  body  of  cavalry  and  in 
fantry  under  the  command  of  Colonel  Montero.  The  move 
ment  was  rapid  and  daring,  but  it  did  not  escape  the  quick 
eye  of  Duncan,  who  dashed  back  with  his  battery  to  the  left 
flank  in  full  view  of  the  enemy  and  engaged  them  within 
point  blank  range  of  his  deadly  guns.  So  sudden  and  un 
expected  was  this  gallant  manoeuvre  to  the  enemy,  who,  a  mo 

*  Ringgold  died  the  day  after  the  battle,  but  Page  survived  some  time 
though  he  was  shockingly  mangled  by  the  ball  which  shot  off  the  lower 
part  of  his  face. 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  169 

ment  before,  saw  this  batteiy  disappear  in  the  opposite  di 
rection  behind  the  smoke  of  the  burning  prairie, — that  their 
whole  column  halted  in  amazement  before  a  shot  had  been 
fired  or  a  gun  unlimbered.  But  they  were  neither  repulsed 
nor  dismayed.  A  strong  body  of  infantry,  supported  by  two 
squadrons  of  cavalry,  debouched  from  the  extreme  right  of 
the  chapparal,  and  moved  steadily  forward  to  attack  us. 
One  section  of  Duncan's  battery  began  to  play  upon  them 
with  round  shot,  shells,  and  spherical  case,  so  well  directed 
that  the  whole  advance,  both  horse  and  foot,  fell  back  in 
disorder  to  the  bushes.  Meantime  the  other  section  opened 
upon  the  masses  of  cavalry  that  halted  at  the  first  sight  of 
our  approaching  guns,  and  although  these  shots  were  well 
delivered  and  each  tore  .a  vista  through  an  entire  squadron, 
the  enemy  remained  unshaken.  At  every  discharge  the 
havoc  was  frightfully  destructive,  but  the  gaps  in  the  Mexi 
can  ranks  were  immediately  closed  with  fresh  horsemen  as 
they  pressed  on  to  assail  us. 

The  column  of  cavalry  and  infantry,  driven  back  into  the 
chapparal  by  the  other  section,  re-formed  in  the  thicket,  and, 
a  second  time,  dauntlessly  advanced  in  order.  After  it  ap 
proached  about  a  hundred  yards  from  the  screen  of  bushes, 
the  section  that  was  previously  ordered  to  repel  it,  re-opened 
a  deadly  fire  and  drove  the  foe  head  long  into  the  forest. 
The  supporting  cavalry  rushed  back  upon  the  ranks  that 
hitherto  withstood  our  shot,  and  the  hurried  retreat  became 
a  perfect  rout.  Squadron  after  squadron  joined  tumultuously 
in  the  race,  and  the  whole  right  wing  of  the  Mexicans  was 
soon  in  rapid  flight,  while  our  relentless  sections  continued 
to  send  their  vollies  into  the  broken  and  scampering  columns 
until  they  disappeared  in  the  chapparal  or  were  lost  in  the 
darkness  of  night.  Thus  ended  the  brilliant  affair  of  Palo 
Alto.  The  enemy  retired  behind  a  protecting  wood,  and 
22 


170  HISTORY    OF   THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

our  army  bivouacked  on  the  ground  it  had  won  and  occupied 
during  the  protracted  fight 

Both  parties  slept  on  the  battle  field.  It  had  been  a  fierce 
and  dreadful  passage  of  arms,  yet  it  was  not  a  decided  vic 
tory.  We  had  repulsed  the  Mexicans,  fatally,  in  every  at 
tempt  ;  we  had  gained  a  better  position,  enabling  us  to  press 
onward  towards  Matamoros,  and  had  inflicted  serious  injury 
on  the  foe;  but  the  enemy  still  rested  on  their  arms  and 
seemed  disposed  to  dispute  the  field  with  us  again  on  the 
morrow.  They  were  sadly  crippled  though  not  defeated, 
and  had  exhibited  a  degree  of  nerve,  mettle,  and  firmness 
that  was  entirely  unexpected  from  the  vanquished  soldiery 
of  San  Jacinto. 

Wearied  by  the  excessive  labor  of  nearly  six  hours  fight 
ing,  our  infantry  and  artillery  sank  on  the  ground  wherever 
they  found  a  resting  place,  whilst  the  alert  dragoons  circled 
the  sleeping  camp  and  rode  on  their  outposts,  among  heaps 
of  the  enemy  whose  dying  groans  were  heard  on  all  sides 
from  the  thickets  to  which  they  had  crept.  All  night  long 
the  medical  staff  was  busy  in  its  work  of  mercy,  while  the 
officers  who  felt  the  dangerous  responsibility  of  their  situa 
tion  collected  in  groups  to  discuss  their  prospects.  Some 
were  doubtful  of  success,  some  anxious  to  obtain  reinforce 
ments,  some  full  of  hope  and  animation,  but  all  were  satis 
fied  that  it  was  prudent  to  hold  a  council  on  the  impending 
fortunes  of  the  army.  After  a  full  examination  of  the  diffi 
culties  and  a  proper  display  of  their  resources,  the  enthu 
siasm  of  the  young  and  the  experience  of  the  old,  alike, 
sanctioned  the  heroic  determination  of  Taylor  to  advance 
without  succor.  This  brave  resolve  reassured  the  army,  and 
all  prepared  with  alacrity  and  confidence  for  the  dangers  of 
the  9th. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  BATTLE  OF  RESACA  DE  LA  PALMA — DEFENCE  OF  FORT  BROWN — 
H          THE  GREAT  WESTERN. 

When  the  sun  rose  on  the  morning  of  the  9th  a  mist  of 
mingled  smoke  and  vapor  hung  over  the  battle  field  of  Palo 
Alto,  but,  as  the  haze  lifted  from  the  levels,  the  Mexicans 
were  perceived  retreating  by  their  left  flank,  in  order,  per 
haps,  to  gain  a  more  advantageous  position  on  the  road  in 
which  they  might  resis'$  our  progress  towards  Matamoros. 
This  movement  inspirited  our  troops,  who,  craving  the  in 
terest  of  a  new  position,  w^ere  loath  to  repeat  the  battle  of 
yesterday  on  the  same  field.  Accordingly  General  Taylor 
ordered  the  supply  train  to  be  parked  at  its  position  and  left 
under  the. guard  of  two  twelve-pounders  and  the  fatal  eigh- 
teens  which  had  done  such  signal  service  on  the  8th.  The 
wounded  men  and  officers  were  next  despatched  to  Point 
Isabel,  and  we  then  moved  across  the  Llano  Burro  towards 
the  edge  of  the  dense  chapparal  which  extends  for  a  dis 
tance  of  seven  miles  to  the  Rio  Grande.  The  light  compa 
nies  of  the  first  brigade  under  Captain  Smith,  of  the  second 
artillery;  and  a  select  detachment  of  light  troops,  all  com 
manded  by  Captain  McCall,  were  thrown  forward  into  the 
thickets  to  feel  the  enemy  and  ascertain  the  position  he 
finally  took. 

In  our  advance  we  crossed  the  ground  occupied  by  the 
Mexicans  on  the  8th  where  their  line  had  been  mowed  by  our 


172  HISTORY    OF   THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

artillery.  Shattered  limbs,  riven  skulls,  slain  and  wounded 
horses,  dying  men,  military  accoutrements,  gun  stocks  and 
bayonets  lay  strewn  around,  the  terrible  evidences  of  war 
and  havoc.  As  our  men  pressed  on  they  encountered,  at 
every  step,  appeals  to  their  humanity,  from  the  famished  and 
thirsty  remnants  of  the  Mexican  army  whose  wounds  did 
not  permit  them  to  advance  with  their  compatriots;  but  it 
may  be  recorded  to  the  honor  of  the  troops,  that  our  maimed 
enemies  were  in  no  instance  left  without  succor,  and  that 
officers  and  men  vied  with  each  other  in  relieving  their  wants 
and  despatching  them  to  our  hospitals. 

About  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  a  report  was  sent 
from  the  scouts  that  the  enemy  were  again  in  position  on  the 
road,  which  they  held  with  at  least  two  pieces  of  artillery. 
The  command  was  immediately  put  in  motion,  and,  about 
an  hour  after,  came  up  with  Captain  McCall. 

The  field  of  Palo  Alto  was  an  open  plain,  well  adapted 
for  the  fair  fight  of  a  pitched  battle,  but  Resaca  de  la  Palma, 
which  we  now  approached,  possessed  altogether  different 
features.  The  position  was  naturally  strong,  and  had  been 
judiciously  seized  by  the  Mexicans.  The  matted  masses 
of  chapparal,  sprinkled  in  spots  with  small  patches  of  prairie, 
formed  an  almost  impassable  barrier  on  both  sides  of  the 
road  along  which  we  were  forced  to  advance.  The  Resaca 
de  la  Palma,  or,. Ravine  of  the  Palm,  fifty  yards  wide  and 
nearly  breast  high,  crosses  the  road  at  right  angles,  and 
then  bends,  at  both  ends,  in  the  shape  of  a  horse  shoe.  The 
low  portions  of  the  gully  are  generally  filled  with  water, 
forming  long  and  winding  ponds  through  the  prairie,  whilst, 
in  the  rainy  season,  these  pools  unite  across  the  ridge  which 
forms  the  road  and  flow  off  towards  the  Rio  Grande.  Along 
the  banks  of  this  ravine  the  thickets  of  chapparal,  nour 
ished  by  the  neighboring  water,  grow  more  densely  than 


MEXICO  AND  THE  UNITED  STATES.        173 

elsewhere,  and,  at  the  period  of  the  battle,  formed  a  solid 
wall  penetrated  only  by  the  highway. 

It  was  along  the  edges  of  this  hollow  that  the  Mexicans, 
led  by  Arista  and  Ampudia,  had  posted  themselves  in  two 
lines, — one  under  the  front  declivity,  and  the  other  en 
trenched  behind  the  copse  of  chapparal  which  shielded  the 
bgnk  in  the  rear.  In  the  centre  of  each  line,  on  the  right 
and  left  of  the  road,  a  battery  was  placed,  whilst  other  bat 
teries,  were  disposed  so  as  to  assail  us  in  flank.  In  this 
strongly  fortified  position,  supported  by  infantry,  cavalry  and 
ordnance,  several  thousand  Mexicans  stood  around  the 
curving  limits  of  the  ravine,  ready  to  rake  us  with  their  ter 
rible  cross-fires  as  we  advanced  by  the  road  between  the 
horns  of  the  crescent.*  / 

It  will  be  perceived,  from  this  description,  that  the  char 
acter  of  the  action  was  Essentially  changed  from  the  affair 
of  the  8th.  Almost  entrenched  as  were  the  Mexicans  be 
hind  the  ravine  and  chapparal,  they  now  stood  on  the  de 
fensive  resolutely  awaiting  our  assault,  whilst,  at  Palo  Alto, 
they  had  assumed  an  offensive  attitude,  aiming  either  to 
capture  or  destroy  our  army. 

In  the  passage  of  our  troops  between  Matamoros  and 
Point  Isabel,  the  practiced  eye  of  our  military  men  often  re 
marked  the  value  of  this  ravine  as  a  point  of  strength ;  and 
it  had  been  already  supposed  that  when  the  enemy  halted, 
to  resist  our  march,  they  \vould  avail  themselves  of  it  for  a 
battle  ground.  Hence  this  excellent  position  was  not  un 
known  to  General  Taylor,  and  he  promptly  prepared  a  com 
bined  attack  of  infantry,  artillery  and  cavalry  by  which  he 
might  succeed  in  driving  the  American  army  like  a  wedge, 
through  the  narrow  but  only  aperture  that  admitted  its  transit 
to  Our  fort. 
'*  Army  on  the  Rio  Grande,  p.  93,  and  see  plan  of  the  battle. 


174  HISTORY    OF   THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

Accordingly,  as  soon  as  Captain  McCall  received  his  or 
ders,  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  day,  he  advanced  with  his 
men,  and  directed  Captain  C.  F.  Smith,  of  the  second  ar 
tillery,  with  the  light  company  of  the  first  brigade,  to  move 
to  the  right  of  the  road,  whilst  he  proceeded  on  the  left  with 
a  detachment  of  artillery  and  infantry.  Walker  and  a  small 
force  of  rangers  was  despatched  to  make  a  hazardous 
reconnoissance  of  the  road  in  front,  while  Lieutenant  Ple- 
santon,  with  a  few  of  the  second  dragoons,  marched  in  rear 
of  the  columns  of  infantry. 

After  following  the  trail  of  the  enemy  for  about  two  miles 
and  a  half  across  the  Llano  Burro,  and  learning  from  Walker 
that  the  road  was  clear,  McCall  pushed  the  rangers  into  the 
chapparal,  within  supporting  distance,  and  soon  dislodged 
some  parties  of  Mexicans.  On  reaching  the  open  ground 
near  Resaca,  the  head  of  his  column  received  three  rounds 
of  canister  from  a  masked  battery,  which  forced  his  men  to 
take  cover,  after  killing  one  private  and  wounding  two  ser 
geants.  They  rapidly  rallied  however,  and  Captain  Smith's 
detachment  being  brought  to  the  left  of  the  road,  it  was  pro- 
'  posed  to  attack  by  a  flank  movement,  what,  at  the  moment, 
was  supposed  to  be  only  the  rear  guard  of  the  retiring  army. 
But  after  a  quick  examination  of  the  field  by  Dobbins  and 
McCoun,  who  discovered  large  bodies  of  Mexicans  in  mo 
tion  on  our  left,  while  the  road,  in  front,  was  held  by  lan 
cers,  McCall  resolved  to  despatch  three  dragoons  to  the 
commander  in  chief  with  the  news  and  await  his  arrival. 

'It  was  about  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  that  General 
Taylor  came  up  with  the  skirmishers  and  received  an  exact 
report  of  the  enemy's  position.  Lieutenant  Ridgely,  who, 
upon  the  Major's  fall,  had  succeeded  to  the  command  of 
Ringgold's  battery,  was  immediately  ordered  to  advance  on 
the  highway,  while  the  fifth  infantry  and  one  wing  of  the 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  175 

fourth  were  thrown  into  the  chapparal  with  McCall's  com 
mand  on  the  left,  at  the  same  time  that  the  third  and  the 
other  wing  of  the  fourth  entered  the  thicket  on  the  right  with 
Smith's  detachment.  These  corps  were  employed  to  cover 
the  battery,  to  act  as  skirmishers,  and  engage  the  Mexi 
can  infantry.  The  action,  at  once  became  general,  spirited 
and  bloody,  for  although  the  enemy's  infantry  gave  way  be 
fore  the  steady  fire  and  resistless  progress  of  our  own,  yet 
his  artillery  was  still  in  position  to  check  our  advance  by 
means  of  the  fatal  pieces  which  commanded  the  pass  through 
the  ravine. 

This  was  the  moment,  however,  when  the  centre  was  des 
tined  to  be  penetrated  and  broken — Ridgely,  as  has  been 
stated,  had  been  ordered  to  the  road,  and,  after  advancing 
cautiously  for  a  short  distance,  he  descried  the  enemy  about 
four  hundred  yards  in  'Advance.  Pressing  onward  until 
within  perfect  range  of  his  guns  he  began  to  play  upon  the 
foe  with  deadly  discharges.  But  the  resolute  Mexicans 
were  not  to  be  repulsed.  Returning  shot  for  shot,  their 
grape  surged  through  our  battery  in  every  direction,  yet 
without  repulsing  the  intrepid  Ridgely,  who,  as  soon  as  the 
opposing  fire  slackened,  limbered  up  and  moved  rapidly  for 
ward,  never  unlimbering  unless  he  perceived  the  enemy,  in 
front  or  found  from  the  fire  of  their  infantry  that  they  still 
hung  upon  his  flank.  During  this  fierce  advance  into  the 
jaws  of  the  Mexican  crescent,  he  frequently  threw  into  it 
discharges  of  canister  when  not  over  one  hundred  yards 
from  the  opposing  batteries  and  their  support. 

After  hammering  the  centre  for  some  time  w^ith  this  iron 
hail,  and  keeping  the  wings  of  the  Mexicans  engaged  with 
the  other  troops,  a  movement  with  dragoons  was  planned 
for  the  final  onslaught.  May,  with  his  powerful  corps,  was 
directed  to  report  to  the  general,  and  immediately  received 


176  HISTORY    OF   THE   WAR   BETWEEN 

orders  from  Taylor  to  charge  the  enemy's  battery.  Thrid- 
ding  the  mazes  of  the  chapparal  and  of  the  road  with  his 
dense  squadron  he  came  up  with  Ridgely,  and  halting  a  mo 
ment  while  that  gallant  soldier  poured  a  volley  into  the 
enemy,  which  was  answered  by  a  shower  of  rattling  grape, 
he  dashed  at  the  head  of  his  troopers,  like  lightning  from 
the  midst  of  the  cloud  of  smoke,  over  the  guns  of  the  aston 
ished  Mexicans.  As  the  dragoons  rushed  at  full  tilt,  with 
gleaming  swords,  along  the  road,  the  artillerists  leaped  upon 
their  pieces  and  cheered  them  on.  The  infantry  in  the 
chapparal  took  up  the  shout,  and  before  the  combined  thun 
der  of  cannon,  huzzas,  and  galloping  cavalry  had  died  away, 
May  and  his  troopers  had  charged  through  the  seven  oppos 
ing  pieces,  and  rose  again  on  the  heights  in  rear  of  the 
ravine.  Graham,  Winship  and  Pleasanton  led  the  move 
ment  on  the  left  of  the  road,  whilst  the  captain,  with  Inge, 
Stevens  and  Sackett,  bore  off  to  the  right.  But,  after  gain 
ing  the  elevation,  only  six  dragoons  could  be  rallied,  and 
with  these  May  charged  back  upon  the  gunners  who  had 
regained  their  pieces,  drove  them  off,  and  took  prisoner  the 
brave  La  Vega  who  stood  to  his  unwavering  artillery  during 
the  heat  of  the  dreadful  onslaught. 

Meanwhile  Ridgely,  as  soon  as  May  had  passed  him, 
followed  the  charge  at  a  gallop,  only  halting  on  the  edge  of 
the  ravine  where  he  found  three  pieces  of  deserted  artillery*. 
Here  the  Mexican  infantry  poured  into  him  a  galling*  fire  at 
a  distance  of  not  more  than  fifty  paces,  and  a  most  despe 
rate  and  murderous  struggle  ensued,  for  the  charge  of  ca 
valry  had  not  been  promptly  sustained  by  the  infantry  in 
consequence  of  the  difficulty  it  experienced  in  struggling 
through  the  masses  of  chapparal.  It  was  about  this  time 
that  the  eighth  regiment  was  encountered  by  May  who  in 
formed  Colonel  Belknap  of  the  exploit  which  had  been  ren- 


MEXICO   AND   THE   UNITED    STATES.  177 

dered  almost  unavailing  for  want  of  supporting  infantry. 
Belknap  promptly  ordered  the  regiment  to  form  on  the  road 
with  a  part  of  the  fifth,  whence,  it  was  impetuously  charged 
on  the  enemy's  guns.  This  admirable  assault  was  executed 
with  the  greatest  celerity;  the  battery  was  secured;  the  in 
fantry  sprang  across  the  ravine  amidst  a  sheet  of  fire  from 
front  and  right,  and  drove  the  supporting  column  before  it, 
destroying  in  vast  numbers  the  troops  that  pertinaciously 
resisted  until  forced  headlong  from  the  fatal  hollow.  Mont 
gomery  with  his  regiment  pursued  the  Mexicans  vigorously 
into  the  chapparal  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Resaca  until 
from  their  rapid  flight,  further  attempts  were  utterly  useless. 

Thus  was  the  centre  of  the  enemy's  lines  completely 
broken.  The  task  would  be  endless  were  I  to  recount  the 
valiant  deeds  of  the  American  and  Mexican  wings  in  the 
thickets  on  the  right  and  left  of  the  road.  It  was  a  short 
but  severe  onset,  disputed  on  both  sides,  with  an  intrepidity 
that  resembled  rather  the  bitterness  of  a  personal  conflict 
than  a  regular  battle.  The  nature  of  the  ground  among  the 
groves  was  such  as  to  forbid  any  thing  but  close  quarters 
and  the  use  of  the  bayonet,  knife,  or  sword.  Officers  and 
men  fought  side  by  side,  supporting  more  than  leading  each 
other  upon  the  opposing  ranks.  Bayonets  were  crossed, 
swords  clashed,  stalwart  arms  held  foes  at  bay,  and  Ameri 
can  and  Mexican  rolled  side  by  side  on  the  blood  stained 
earth. 

I  have  dwelt  upon  the  action  in  the  centre  because  it  con 
trolled  the  road,  dispersed  the  foe  and  won  the  day;  but  the 
effort  would  be  invidious  were  I  to  relate  instances  of  indi 
vidual  hardihood  and  skill,  when  all  the  valiant  actors  in  the 
drama  were  fearless  and  unfaltering.  The  charge  of  May 
was  not  unlike  the  assault  at  Waterloo  of  Ponsonby's  victo 
rious  cavalry,  supported  by  Vandeleur's  light  horse,  upon  the 
23 


178  HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

twenty-four  pieces  of  D'Erlon's  battery ;  in  regard  to  which 
Napoleon  was  heard  to  exclaim,  in  the  heat  of  the  battle, — 
"How  terribly  those  gray  horsemen  fight!"  But  in  that 
conflict,  Frenchmen  opposed  the  Anglo-saxons,  and  Mil- 
haud's  steel  clad  curiassiers,  charging  Ponsonby's  brigade 
after  it  had  carried  the  guns  and  attacked  even  a  third  line 
of  artillery  and  lancers,  readily  overcame  the  exhausted 
troopers  and  slew  their  gallant  leader. 

At  Resaca  de  la  Palma,  however  the  result  was  different. 
The  artillery  battalion,  which,  with  the  exception  of  the  flank 
companies,  had  been  ordered  to  guard  the  train  on  the  morn 
ing  of  the  9th,  was  now  ordered  up  to  pursue  the  routed  en 
emy  ;  and  the  third  infantry,  Ker's  dragoons  and  Duncan's 
battery  followed  the  Mexicans  rapidly  to  the  river.  Shout 
ing,  singing,  almost  frantic  with  delight  at  their  eminent  suc 
cess,  our  men  rushed  after  the  flying  Mexicans.  The  pur 
suit  became  a  perfect  rout  as  they  pressed  on  to  the  banks  of 
the  Rio  Grande,  and  numbers  of  the  enemy  were  drowned  in 
attempting  the  passage  of  the  fatal  stream.  The  pursuing 
corps  encamped  near  the  Rio  Grande,  while  the  remainder 
of  the  army  rested  for  the  night  on  the  field  of  battle.  The 
want  of  a  ponton  tram*  prevented  us  from  following  the  foe 
across  the  river  on  the  night  of  the  9th ;  but,  as  the  govern 
ment  had  failed  to  provide  General  Taylor  with  that  use 
ful  equipage,  notwithstanding  his  frequent  warnings  of  its 
need,  he  was  deprived  of  the  first  chance  in  this  war  to  an 
nihilate  the  Mexican  army  and  to  seize  all  the  arms  and 
ammunition  collected  in  Matamoros.  The  capture,  how 
ever,  of  Arista's  camp  and  its  equipage  was  a  recompense 

*In  May  1846,  after  these  battles,  an  act  of  Congress  was  finally  passed 
authorising  the  organization  of  a  company  of  sappers,  miners  and  ponto- 
niers.  The  war  department  had  not  the  right  to  form  such  a  corps  pre 
vious  to  this  enactment. 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  179 

for  our  men  who  had  fought  so  bravely.  The  Mexican 
chief  had  gone  into  the  campaign  with  every  comfort  around 
him,  and  was  evidently  unprepared  for  defeat  at  Resaca  de 
La  Palma,  for,  at  the  moment  of  our  victory,  his  camp-ket 
tles  were  found  simmering  over  the  fires  filled  with  viands 
from  which  he  had  doubtless  designed  to  make  a  savory 
meal  after  our  capture.  The  food  however  was  destined  to 
other  uses  ;  and,  after  a  communication  with  the  fort  which 
held  out  staunchly  against  the  enemy  during  both  contests, 
our  men  sat  down  to  enjoy  the  repast  which  the  Mexicans 
had  cooked. 

Unable  as  we  were  to  secure  the  best  results  of  victory, 
from  the  cause  already  narrated,  these  battles  were,  never 
theless,  of  great  importance.  We  had  achieved  success  in 
the  face  of  brave  foes  outnumbering  us  more  than  two  to 
one,  and  had  conquered  an  army  of  Mexican  veterans,  per 
fectly  equipped  and  appointed.  In  the  battle  of  Palo  Alto 
our  force,  engaged,  had  been  one  hundred  and  seventy-seven 
officers,  two  thousand  one  hundred  and  eleven  men,  or  an 
aggregate  of  two  thousand  two  hundred  and  eighty-eight ; — 
in  the  action  of  Resaca  de  la  Palma  we  brought  into  the 
field  one  hundred  and  seventy-three  officers  and  two  thou 
sand  and  forty  nine  men,  or,  an  aggregate  of  two  thousand 
two  hundred  and  twenty- two,  while  the  actual  number  en 
gaged  with  the  enemy  did  not  exceed  seventeen  hundred. 
In  the  first  affair  we  had  nine  killed,  forty-four  wounded* 
and  two  missing;  but  in  the  second,  our  loss  was  three  offi 
cers  and  thirty-six  men  killed,  and  seventy-one  wounded. 
Lieutenant  Inge  fell  at  the  head  of  his  platoon  while  charging 
with  May ;  Lieutenants  Cochrane  and  Chadburne  likewise 

*  Page  and  Ringgold  died  subsequently 


180  HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

met  their  death  in  the  thickest  of  the  fight ;  while  Lieuten 
ant  Colonels  Payne  and  Mclntosh ;  Captains  Montgomery 
and  Hooe ;  and  Lieutenants  Fowler,  Dobbins,  Gates,  Jor 
dan,  Selden,  Maclay,  Burbank  and  Morris,  were  wounded 
on  the  field  of  Resaca  de  la  Palma. 

The  Mexican  army,  under  Arista  and  Ampudia,  amounted 
to  at  least  six  thousand  men,  having  been  strongly  reinforced 
with  cavalry  and  infantry  after  the  battle  of  the  8th;  and  it 
is  highly  probable  that  the  whole  of  this  force  was  opposed 
to  us  in  their  choice  position.  In  one  of  his  despatches, 
after  the  battles,  Arista  confesses  that  he  still  had  under 
arms  four  thousand  troops  exclusive  of  numerous  auxiliaries, 
and  that  he  lost  in  the  affair  at  Palo  Alto  four  officers  and 
ninety-eight  men  killed ; — eleven  officers  and  one  hundred 
and  sixteen  men  wounded,  and  twenty-six  privates  and  non 
commissioned  officers  missing ; — while  in  the  battle  of  Re 
saca  de  la  Palma,  six  officers  and  one  hundred  and  fifty-four 
men  were  slain ;  twenty-three  officers  and  two  hundred 
and  five  wounded,  and  three  officers  and  one  hundred  and 
fifty-six  missing, — making  a  total  loss  of  seven  hundred 
and  fifty-five.  Eight  pieces  of  artillery,  several  colors  and 
standards,  a  great  number  of  prisoners,  including  fourteen 
officers,  and  a  large  quantity  of  camp  equipage,  muskets, 
small  arms,  mules,  horses,  pack-saddles,  subsistence,  person 
al  baggage,  and  private  as  well  as  regimental  papers,  fell  into 
our  hands.  The  plan  of  campaign,  as  alleged  to  have  been 
developed  by  Arista's  port-folio,  was  based  upon  the  "re- 
conquest  of  the  lost  province,"  into  which  the  Mexican 
forces  were  to  have  been  pushed  as  soon  as  our  army  was 
demolished  on  the  Rio  Grande.  If  it  should  be  necessary 
to  secure  the  fruits  of  victory  by  further  military  efforts,  it 
was  arranged  that  ample  reinforcements  were  to  be  brought 
into  the  field,  and  subsequently  that-  President  Paredes, 


MEXICO    AND   THE    UNITED    STATES.  181 

himself,  should  march  an  army  of  occupation  into  Texas 
and  bear  his  conquering  eagles  to  the  Sabine ! 

After  this  narrative  of  our  actions  in  the  field  let  us  recur 
for  a  moment  to  the  gallant  garrison  which  had  been  shut 
up  in  the  fort  since  the  begmning  of  the  month,  and  in  re 
gard  to  whose  fate  the  liveliest  anxiety  was  experienced. 

When  the  cornmander-in-chief  departed  on  the  1st  of 
May  to  open  the  line  of  communication  with  Point  Isabel, 
prevent  an  attack  upon  the  depot,  and,  finally,  to  succor  the 
fort  with  subsistence  and  munitions,  the  field  work,  though 
capable  of  defence,  was  not  completed.  The  events  of  the 
few  preceding  days  had  denoted  a  resolution  on  the  part  of 
the  Mexicans  to  assail  us  immediately,  and  warned  our 
small  garrison  to  prepaife  for  all  emergencies.  Accordingly 
the  labor  of  ditching  anti  embanking  on  the  unfinished  front 
was  resumed;  but  neither  the  draw-bridge  nor  the  interior 
defences  were  yet  commenced,  and  to  all  these  works, 
Mansfield,  with  his  engineers  and  detachments  of  infantry, 
devoted  themselves  unceasingly  during  the  whole  of  the 
bombardment,  which  began  at  day-break,  on  Sunday,  the 
3d  of  May. 

The  Mexicans  had  been  engaged  for  some  time  erecting 
fortifications  along  the  river  front  of  their  town  opposite 
our  field  work,  and  by  this  time  had  prepared  them  for  ac 
tion.  They  commenced  their  attack  from  the  fort  and  mor 
tar  battery  called  La  redonda,  which  they  had  placed  under 
the  orders  of  a  French  officer  of  artillery,  who  manifested  a 
perfect  knowledge  of  his  profession  during  the  conflict. 
Nine  pieces  of  ordnance, — four  mortars,  and  the  remainder 
six  and  eight-pounders, — poured  into  our  works  an  inces 
sant  shower  of  shot  and  shells ;  -but  our  batteries  returned 
the  fire  so  effectually,  that  in  thirty  minutes,  La  redonda  was 


182  HISTORY    OF    THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

abandoned.  Passing  from  this  fortification  to  another  lower 
down,  the  enemy  again  opened  upon  us  from  Lafortina  de 
lajlecha,  as  well  as  from  intermediate  batteries  and  a  mor 
tar  in  their  vicinity.  It  soon  became  evident  that  our  six- 
pounders  produced  no  serious  effects  in  consequence  of  the 
distance ;  and,  desiring  to  husband  his  resources  for  greater 
emergencies,  Major  Brown  ordered  the  firing  to  cease  en 
tirely  on  our  side  of  the  river.  The  garrison  had  been  left 
with  only  one  hundred  and  fifty  rounds  of  ammunition  for 
each  eighteen-pounder  while  the  six-pounders  were  as  badly 
provided ! 

The  silence  of  our  guns  in  the  presence  of  an  assailing 
foe,  disheartened  our  men  for  an  instant,  but  they  immedi 
ately  betook  themselves  energetically  to  their  task. on  the 
defences,  though  the  enemy's  shells  exploded  in  every  di 
rection  about  them.  On  the  4th  the  Mexicans  again  re 
sumed  the  fight  and  continued  their  vollies  until  midnight. 
At  nine  o'clock  on  that  evening  irregular  discharges  of 
musketiy  were  heard  in  our  rear  apparently  extending  a 
mile  up  the  river,  and  continuing  until  near  the  termination 
of  the  cannonade.  Every  soldier  in  the  fort  therefore  stood 
to  his  arms  all  night  long,  manning  each  battery  and  point 
of  defence  in  expectation  of  an  assault  from  the  forces  that 
had  crossed  the  river  and  filled  the  adjacent  plains  and 
thickets.  But  the  anxious  night  passed  without  an  attack 
at  close  quarters,  and,  at  day-light,  on  the  5th,  the  enemy 
again  commenced  their  fire  from  the  distant  batteries.  The 
sound  of  war  was  gratifying  to  the  Mexicans,  but  its  con 
flicts  were  safer  from  behind  the  walls  and  parapets  of  their 
forts,  with  an  intervening  river,  than  in  dangerous  charges 
against  the  muzzles  of  our  guns !  As  soon  as  the  cannonade 
re-commenced,  it  was  irfmediately  returned  by  a  few  dis 
charges  from  the  eighteen-pounders  and  six-pounder-howit- 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  183 

zer;  and  the  voice -of  our  guns  once  more  exhilerated  the 
men,  though  their  shots  were  ineffectual.  Both  batteries 
ceased  firing  simultaneously,  and  our  indefatigable  soldiers 
again  set  to  work  on  the  defences,  completed  the  ramparts, 
and  made  rapid  progress  in  the  construction  of  a  bomb-proof 
and  traverse  in  rear  of  the  postern. 

These  were  anxious  days  and  hours  for  a  garrison  short 
of  ammunition,  assailed  by  an  enemy  equipped  with  every 
species  of  deadly  missile,  probably  surrounded  by  superior 
numbers  concealed  on  the  left  bank  of  the  river,  and  yet 
forced  to  labor  on  the  very  fortifications  which  were  to  keep 
off  the  foe.  During  all  this  time,  however,  no  one  desponded. 
Day  and  night  they  toiled  incessantly  on  the  works  amid  the 
shower  of  shot  and  bombs,  nor  was  a  sound  of  sorrow  heard 
within  the  little  fort  uiitil  its  brave  commander  fell,  mortally 
wounded  by  a  shell,  on  the  6th  of  May.  The  game  was 
kept  up  during  all  this  day:  mounted  men  were  seen  along 
the  prairie,  while  infantry  were  noticed  creeping  through  the 
thickets ;  but  a  few  rounds  of  canister,  from  Bragg's  battery, 
dispersed  the  assailants. 

About  four  o'clock  of  this  day  a  white  flag  was  observed 
at  some  old  buildings  in  the  rear  of  our  work,  and  a  parley 
was  sounded  by  the  enemy.  Two  officers  were  soon  de 
scried  approaching  us,  and  an  equal  number  were  despatched 
by  Captain  Hawkins,  (who  had  succeeded  Major  Brown  in 
the  command  of  the  fort,)  to  meet  them  within  two  hundred 
and  fifty  yards  of  our  lines.  A  communication  from  General 
Arista  was  delivered  by  the  herald,  and  the  Mexicans  were 
requested  to  retire  a  short  distance  and  await  the  reply. 

In  this  document  Arista  declared  that  our  fort  was  sur 
rounded  by  forces  adequate  to  its  capture,  while  a  numerous 
division,  encamped  in  the  neighborhood,  was  able  to  keep 
off  all  succors  that  might  be  expected.  He  alleged  that  his 


*.* 

184  HISTORY    OF   THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

respect  for  humanity  urged  him  to  mitigate  as  much  as  pos 
sible  the  disasters  of  war,  and  he  therefore  summoned  our 
garrison  to  surrender,  in  order  to  avoid  by  capitulation,  the 
entire  destruction  of  the  command.  This  mingled  mission 
of  humanity  and  revenge  demanded  the  immediate  notice  of 
our  troops,  and,  accordingly,  a  brief  council  was  held  in 
which  it  was  unanimously  resolved  to  decline  the  philan 
thropic  proposal.  Hawkins,  at  once  despatched  his  cour 
teous  but  firm  reply,  and  the  enemy  acknowledged  its  re 
ceipt  by  a  storm  of  shot  and  shell  which  was  literally  show 
ered  into  the  works. 

It  would  be  but  repeating  a  narrative  of  one  day's  scenes 
were  we  to  detail  the  events  of  the  7th,  8th  and  9th  of  May. 
The  bravado  contained  in  Arista's  despatch,  had  failed 
in  its  effort  to  intimidate  us;  nevertheless  we  were  com 
pelled  to  undergo  the  severest  task  that  a  soldier  can  suffer 
in  passive  non-resistance,  whilst  the  enemy,  from  afar,  strove 
to  bury  our  fort  under  the  weight  of  their  projectiles.  Bombs 
and  shot  were,  however,  unavailing.  The  defences  proved 
equal  to  our  perfect  protection ;  and  all  continued  to  work 
cheerfully  in  the  trenches  until  the  distant  sounds  of  battle 
were  heard  booming  from  Palo  Alto  and  Resaca.  Anxiety 
was  dispelled,  and  hope  ripened  into  certainty  as  the  can 
nonade  "grew  louder  and  drew  nearer  the  river,  until,  at  last, 
on  the  evening  of  the  ninth,'  the  Mexican  squadrons  raced 
past  the  fort  and  received  the  reserved  shot  of  the  eighteens 
which  poured  their  masses  of  grape  among  the  flying 
groups.  As  our  pursuing  forces  rushed  out  from  behind  the 
thickets  and  beheld  the  American  flag  still  aloft  in  the  works, 
they  sent  forth  a  cheer  which  was  answered  by  the  rejoicing 
garrison,  and  the  valley  of  the  Rio  Grande  reverberated  with 
the  exultation  of  delight.  Victory  and  relief;  a  routed  foe 
and  succored  friends,  enlivened  every  heart,  and  even  the 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  185 

foremost  and  bitterest  in  pursuit  halted  a  moment  to  ex 
change  congratulations  upon  the  events  of  the  glorious  day. 
Thus  the  separate  forces  of  the  United  States  were  again 
brought  together;  and  FORT  BROWN, — which  now  received 
its  name  from  the  brave  Major  who  died  on  the  9th,— -wras 
found  to  have  lost  but  two  by  death  and  only  fourteen 
wounded  during  the  whole  bombardment. 

Every  war  produces  its  singular  characters  whose  influ 
ence  or  example  are  not  without  their  due  effect  upon  the 
troops,  and,  at  the  conclusion  of  these  chapters,  which  are 
so  stained  with  blood  and  battle,  it  may  not  be  useless  to 
sketch,  even  upon  the  grave  page  of  history,  the  deeds  of  a 
woman  whose  courageous  spirit  bore  her  through  all  the 
trials  of  this  bombardrjaent,  but  whose  masculine  hardihood 
was  softened  by  the  gentleness  of  a  female  heart.  Woman 
has  every  where  her  sphere  of  power  over  the  rougher  sex, 
but  the  women  of  a  camp  must  possess  qualities  to  which 
their  tender  sisters  of  the  saloon  are  utter  strangers. 

Some  years  ago,  in  the  far  west,  a  good  soldier  joined 
one  of  our  regiments,  with  his  tall  and  gaunt  wife,  whose 
lofty  figure  and  stalwart  frame  almost  entitled  her  as  much 
as  her  husband  to  a  place  in  the  ranks  of  the  gallant  seventh. 
Unwilling  to  abandon  her  liege  lord  upon  his  enlistment, 
this  industrious  female  was  immediately  employed  as  one  of 
the  laundresses,  three  of  whom  are  allowed  to  draw  rations 
in  each  company,  and  are  required  to  wash  for  the  soldiers 
at  a  price  regulated  by  a  council  of  officers.  The  "  Great 
Western," — for  by  this  soubriiquet  was  she  known  in  the 
army, — arrived  at  Corpus  Christi  with  her  husband,  and  up 
to  the  period  of  our  departure  for  the  Rio  Grande  performed 
all  her  appropriate  duties,  keeping,  in  addition,  a  "mess" 
for  the  younger  officers  of  the  regiment.  When  the  army 
24 


186  HISTORY    OP   THE    WAR    BETWEEN 

advanced,  the  women,  with  some  exceptions,  were  de 
spatched  by  sea  to  Point  Isabel,  while  a  few  procured  po 
nies  to  follow  the  soldiers  in  their  tedious  march.  The  hus 
band  of  the  Great  Western  was  sent  in  one  of  the  transports 
to  the  Brazos,  but  his  hardy  spouse  did  not  deign  to  accom 
pany  him  in  this  comfortable  mode  of  transit,  declaring  that 
"  the  boys  of  her  mess  must  have  some  one  to  take  care  of 
them  on  their  toilsome  march."  Accordingly,  having  pur 
chased  a  cart  and  loaded  it  with  luggage,  cooking  utensils, 
and  supplies,  she  mounted  behind  her  donkey  with  whip  in 
hand,  and  displayed  during  the  wearisome  advance,  quali 
ties  which  the  best  teamster  in  the  train  might  have  envied. 
Throughout  the  whole  journey  she  kept  her  boarders  well 
provided  with  excellent  rations;  and,  when  her  brigade 
reached  the  banks  of  the  Colorado  she  was  one  of  the  first 
who  offered  to  cross  m  the  face  of  the  resisting  enemy. 
After  calmly  surveying  the  scene,  which  has  been  described 
in  another  chapter,  she  remarked,  with  great  coolness,  that 
"if  the  general  would  give  her  a  stout  pair  of  tongs  she 
would  wade  the  river  and  whip  every  scoundrel  Mexican 
that  dared  show  his  face  on  the  opposite  side!" 

When  Taylor  marched  to  Point  Isabel  on  the  1st  of  May, 
the  Great  Western  was  of  course  left  behind  with  the  sev 
enth  infantry.  Together  with  the  eight  or  ten  women  who 
remained,  she  moved,  at  once  into  the  fort,  where  her  mess 
was  soon  re-established  in  a  tent  near  the  centre  of  the 
works.  The  enemy's  fire  began  on  the  3d,  as  she  was 
commencing  her  preparations  for  breakfast,  and  the  women 
were,  of  course,  immediately  deposited  for  safety  in  the 
almost  vacant  magazines.  But  it  may  be  recorded  to  their 
honor  that  they  were  not  idle  during  the  siege.  Nobly  did 
they  ply  their  needles  in  preparing  sand  bags  from  the  soldiers' 
and  officers'  tents  to  strengthen  the  works  antl  protect  the 


MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES.  187 

artillerists  whilst  serving  at  their  guns;  yet,  the  Great  Wes 
tern,  declining  either  to  sew  or  to  nestle  in  the  magazine, 
continued  her  labors  over  the  fire  in  the  open  air.  After  the 
discharge  of  the  first  gun  all  were  at  their  posts,  answering 
the  shot  from  the  Mexican  forts ;  and,  when  the  hour  for 
breakfast  arrived,  none,  expected  the  luxury  that  awaited 
them.  Nevertheless  the  mess  was  as  well  attended  as  if 
nothing  but  a  morning  drill,  with  blank  cartridges,  had  oc 
curred,  and,  in  addition,  a  large  supply  of  delicious  coffee 
awaited  the  thirsty,  who  had  but  to  come  and  partake,  with 
out  distinction  of  rank.  To  some  of  the  artillerists  who 
were  unable  to  leave  their  guns,  the  beverage  was  carried 
by  this  excellent  female ;  and,  as  may  readily  be  believed,  no 
belle  of  Orleans,  ever  taet  a  more  gracious  reception.  The 
fire  of  the  artillery  wasrkept  up  almost  incessantly  until  near 
the  dinner  hour,  when  the  Great  Western  again  provided  a 
savory  soup  which  she  distributed  to  the  men  without 
charge. 

Thus  did  she  continue  to  fulfil  her  duties  during  the  seven 
days  that  the  enemy  kept  up  an  incessant  cannonade  and 
bombardment.  She  was  ever  to  be  found  at  her  post;  her 
meals  were  always  ready  at  the  proper  hour,  and  always  of 
the  best  that  the  camp  af%rded.  When  the  despatches,  sent 
by  Walker,  were  made  up  for  General  Taylor  on  the  even 
ing  of  the  4th,  a  number  of  officers  and  men  wrote  to  their 
friends  at  Point  Isabel ;  and  among  them  this  courageous 
woman  found  time  to  communicate  with  her  husband  who 
had  not  been  despatched  from  the  depot  to  Fort  Brown. 
In  this  document  she  expressed  her  full  confidence  in  the 
ability  of  the  garrison  to  sustain  itself,  and  only  regretted 
the  absence  of  her  spouse.  To  supply  his  place,  however, 
she  applied,  early  in  the  action,  for  a  musket  and  ammuni 
tion  which  she  placed  in  security,  expressing  her  determina- 


188  HISTORY    OP   THE    WAR   BETWEEN 

tion  to  have  full  satisfaction  whenever  the  enemy  dared  to 
approach  within  range  of  her  piece.  This  they  never  did, 
and  our  indomitable  heroine  must  rest  contented  with  the 
reflection  that  she  nobly  performed  her  duty,  and  will  long 
be  remembered  by  the  besieged  garrison  of  Fort  Brown. 

NOTE. — The  reader  who  desires  to  verify  the  accounts  of  the  actions  nar 
rated  in  the  two  last  chapters,  will  find  all  the  authentic  papers  upon  which 
they  are  founded,  in  the  nationgl  documents  relative  to  the  war  published 
during  the  two  sessions  of  the  twenty-ninth  congress. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  name  of  General  Worth  does  not  occur  in  the 
account  of  these  recent  transactions  on  the  Rio  Grande.  This  excellent 
soldier  had  left  Florida  in  September,  1845,  and  was  early  on  the  ground 
at  Corpus  Christi  in  command  of  the  first  brigade  consisting  of  one  artil 
lery  battalion  and  the  eighth  regiment  of  infantry.  His  march  and  acts  on 
the  Rio  Grande  have  been  recounted  in  the  preceding  chapters ;  but  soon 
after  nis  arrival  he  received  the  mortifying  intelligence  that  he  had  been 
superceded  in  rajik  by  an  arrangement  announced  from  the  war  depart 
ment.  He,  therefore,  deemed  H  due  to  himself  as  an  officer  to  demonstrate 
his  sensibility  by  resigning  at  once,  especially  as  he  was  convinced  that 
there  would  be  no  engagement  between  the  armies,  and  that  the  war  would 
be  concluded  by  despatches  and  bulletins  instead  of  arms.  Nevertheless 
he  left  the  American  camp  with  regret,  (tendering  his  services  "  out  of 
authority,"  to  the  general  in  command,)  and  travelled  with  despatch  to 
Washington.  On  arriving  there  he  learned  that  hostilities  had  actually 
commenced;  and  waiving  all  his  personal  feeling,  he  immediately  with 
drew  his  resignation,  with  a  request  for  permission  to  return  forthwith  to 
the  command  of  the  troops  from  which  he  was  separated,  by  army  orders, 
in  April,  1846.  His  wish  was  granted  by  the  secretary  of  war  as  soon  as 
it  was  made  known  on  the  9th  of  May,  and  Worth  hastened  back  to  Mexi 
co,  where  his  bravery  and  skill  were  subsequently  so  conspicuous. — See 
Niles's  Register,  vol.  70,  p.  313. 


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